HBO SUCKS!

[Al Shut]

Insert lens glare joke here

[TheButcher]

Insert lens glare joke here

[so sorry]

Anyone else catch the Debbie Reynolds/Carrie Fisher special this weekend?

[TheButcher]

Variety:
HBO Developing ‘Godfather’ Behind-the-Scenes Movie From Black List Script (EXCLUSIVE)

The Story Behind 'Citizen Kane'
HBO Film Traces Struggle Between Welles, Hearst

[Wolfpack]

The Story Behind 'Citizen Kane'
HBO Film Traces Struggle Between Welles, Hearst

But will we get to see that movie with Y2K on the horizon?

[Ribbons]

haha wtf

[TheButcher]

The Story Behind 'Citizen Kane'
HBO Film Traces Struggle Between Welles, Hearst

But will we get to see that movie with Y2K on the horizon?

Game Change

"Saakashvili!"

[Wolfpack]

The Story Behind 'Citizen Kane'
HBO Film Traces Struggle Between Welles, Hearst

But will we get to see that movie with Y2K on the horizon?

[urlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOa98P_Mv68]Game Change[/url]

"Saakashvili!"

Oh, come on. That could never happen in real life.

[TheButcher]

Variety MAY 4, 2017:
‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoffs in the Works at HBO

HBO has closed deals with four different writers to explore multiple possible spinoffs of “Game of Thrones.”

The premium cable channel says that there is no timeline for development of the projects. “We’ll take as much or as little time as the writers need and, as with all our development, we will evaluate what we have when the scripts are in,” a spokesperson said.

The four writers are Max Borenstein (“Kong: Skull Island”), Jane Goldman (“Kingsman: The Golden Circle”), Brian Helgeland (“Legend”), and Carly Wray (“Mad Men,” “The Leftovers”). Goldman and Wray will each be working individually with novelist and “Game of Thrones” creator George R. R. Martin.

“Game of Thrones” executive producers and showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff will be attached to the four projects, as will Martin, but will not write on any of them.

A spinoff to “Game of Thrones” — the most watched series in HBO history — has been a source of speculation for years. In recent months, HBO executive began to privately acknowledge that the network was searching for writers to develop ideas based on the series and Martin’s best-selling fantasy novels from which it is adapted.

Asked about a possible spinoff last year at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, HBO programming president Casey Bloys said, “We’ve talked about it. It’s something I’m not opposed to. But, of course, it has to make sense creatively. I am not sure that the guys [Weiss and Benioff] can really wrap their heads around it when they’re just about to start production. It’s a pretty intense production. They’re about to start production soon, but I’m open to it. The guys weren’t opposed to it, but there is no concrete plans, or anything like that at this point.”

Season 7 of “Game of Thrones” is set to premiere July 16. Production on the show pushed the premiere of the new season past its usual April start date, in order to capture the weather the producers wanted. The new season will consist of seven episodes. The eighth and final season, which Weiss and Benioff have already begun writing, will be between six and eight episodes.

The Season 6 finale of “Game of Thrones” drew a series-high 8.9 million viewers in overnight numbers —an expecially high number given premium HBO’s much smaller viewer base than broadcast and basic-cable nets. Season 6 averaged 23.3 million multiplatform viewers, according to the service.

[Fievel]

You picked the right thread for this story, Butcher.
This just makes me groan.
Now, if HBO made an occasional GoT movie to tell these stories, I might be interested. But more series just reeks of Law and Order/CSI/NCIS- network TV over saturation bullshit.

[TheBaxter]

i wouldn't mind seeing a prequel series featuring Rhaegar and Lyanna and Robert's Rebellion and the Mad King, etc.

[TheButcher]

Variety AUGUST 2, 2017:
HBO Security Contractor: Hackers Stole ‘Thousands of Internal Documents’ (EXCLUSIVE)

The HBO hack may have been worse than the initial leaks of a few unaired TV show episodes suggested. A security company hired by HBO to scrub search results for the hacked files from search engines has told Google that the hackers stole “thousands of Home Box Office (HBO) internal company documents.”

The disclosure came as part of a DMCA take-down notice sent to Google Tuesday to force the search engine to take down links to the leaked files. The take-down notice also detailed that the hackers did away with “masses of copyrighted items including documents, images, videos and sound.”

The company in question, IP Echelon, is frequently being used by HBO to remove links to infringing material from Google. An HBO spokesperson declined to comment on the take-down notice and the nature of any files stolen by the hackers when contacted by Variety Wednesday “due to an ongoing investigation.”


Word of HBO getting hacked first broke Monday morning, when the hackers approached media outlets with the news that they had broken into HBO’s networks and released episodes of “Ballers,” “Insecure,” and “Room 104” as well as the script for an upcoming episode of “Game of Thrones.”

Also released by the hackers: Two episodes of “Barry,” the hit man comedy starring Bill Hader that is not scheduled to air until 2018 on the network.

The hackers appear to have also leaked personal information of a senior HBO executive. That information, published online in a text document, contains access information to dozens of online accounts, including paid newspaper subscriptions, online banking, and personal health services. At least one of these accounts may also have given the hackers access to the executive’s work email.

The perpetrators of the hack have claimed that they were able to access some of HBO’s key network infrastructure, and steal a total of 1.5 terabyte of data, and have suggested that they will release additional information in the near future. An image file published as part of the leaks seems to corroborate at least the first part of that claim, as it appears to show screenshots of HBO’s internal administration tools, listing employee names and email addresses and their functions within the organization.

Thousands of potentially sensitive internal documents, employee data, and a possible access to internal corporate email: All of this brings back memories of the Sony hack. Back in 2014, a group of hackers that is thought to have been backed by North Korea broke into the networks of Sony Pictures. The group subsequently released tens of thousands of emails, as well as scripts and video files, contributing to the ouster of Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal.

HBO acknowledged the hack on Monday, and said that it was working with law enforcement and private firms to remedy the situation. “Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold,” the company said in a statement.

[TheButcher]

HBO Hackers Threaten to Leak Additional Data This Coming Sunday

HBO’s hacking problem may not be going away anytime soon: the hackers who leaked unaired episodes of the network’s shows earlier this week now threaten to release additional content this coming Sunday.

In an automated email reply sent to Variety, the group wrote that it will “release the leak gradually every week,” adding that the next release may come “Sunday 12 GMT.” The group also repeated its claim that it had obtained a total of 1.5 terabyte of data when it broke into HBO’s computer networks.

Word of the breach first broke Monday, when the hackers released a handful of unaired episodes of HBO shows, as well as other internal data, online. HBO has acknowledged the hack, but not commented on the types of files hackers were able to obtain. A spokesperson for the network also declined to comment on the new threat Thursday.


On Wednesday, HBO president and CEO Richard Plepler told employees of the network that the hackers likely didn’t break into its email system. “At this time, we do not believe that our email system as a whole has been compromised, but the forensic review is ongoing,” he said.

However, a security contractor hired by HBO to scrub search results for the leaked data from Google revealed in a filing Tuesday that the hackers got their hands on “thousands of internal documents.”

The threat of further leaks not only raises the question of whether HBO has to fear the release of additional unaired episodes, or other sensitive internal data. It’s also everyone’s best guess as to where the hackers intend to release the new material. A website that used to offer the original leaks for download has been inaccessible for the past two days.

[TheButcher]

THR 8/7/2017:
The release of a month's worth of the executive's inbox is the first indication that HBO's emails have been penetrated, at least partially.

[so sorry]

Imagine if Andre was born a few decades later, with today's sports medicine and modern body building (and 'roids), he could have been unstoppable in the ring. I mean, he 'was' unstoppable back in the day (when the script called for it), but you know what I mean.

[so sorry]

"biopic" about Herve Vlllichesveesse. I wonder if Dinklage did the sqeeky voice on his own, or if it was all done in post? There wasn't much dialogue from him in the trailer to figure it out.

[so sorry]

Anyone catch the Chernobyl mini series on HBO? Its getting pretty good reviews, but not sure its something I want to watch.

[Ribbons]

I've been meaning to; this rave on Twitter by someone who actually lived through the Chernobyl incident convinced me that it's something I ought to see. That said, I've been putting it off due to the grimness of the material.

[so sorry]

That said, I've been putting it off due to the grimness of the material.

Ditto. Like i said in another thread, I'm slowly working my way thru Deadwood, but at least that's a "fun/fantasy kinda grimness

[so sorry]

Never saw the movie from a few years ago.... this looks grittier. The trailer really mentioned no God Stuff, wonder how much of that part of the books makes it into this show (I mean, its pretty freaking key to the books from what I can remember).