House of the Dragon returns for a third season
HBO Max is rolling out the third season of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel set two centuries before the original series and focused on the internal politics of the Targaryen dynasty. The new run continues the franchise's emphasis on ambition, betrayal and dragon-driven spectacle, with armies gathering and loyalties fracturing as power struggles intensify. The release schedule remains weekly, a format the platform has used to sustain between-episode discussion around the show.
New scripted and unscripted series join the lineup
The platform is also adding Proud, a Polish-language drama that follows a self-absorbed gay man who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of his deceased sister's child, exploring themes of family, discrimination and personal growth. In unscripted fare, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever sends the prominent technology journalist into the longevity and biohacking industry, a choice reportedly motivated by her father's early death and framed as a skeptical inquiry into whether extended life is desirable or achievable.
August movie additions lean on festival titles and genre revivals
Three feature films anchor HBO Max's August movie slate. A24's Mother Mary, directed by David Lowery and starring Anne Hathaway as a pop star retreating from her tour after an existential crisis, arrives on Aug. 21; the film features original songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli xcx and FKA Twigs and also stars Michaela Coel. Renny Harlin's The Strangers: Chapter 2 reaches the service on Aug. 7, continuing the masked-killer trilogy with Madeline Petsch returning as Maya, while Normal, directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, debuts on Aug. 14.
Programming context and what it signals
Taken together, the slate illustrates how HBO Max is pairing tentpole fantasy with smaller international dramas and topical documentary work, while using its movie pipeline to absorb A24 theatrical titles whose box-office performance lagged their critical profiles. Mother Mary, for example, grossed only about $2.9 million in theaters, and its arrival on streaming represents a second commercial life for a film that Variety's review suggested was under-seen. The mix also reflects the broader August streaming picture, in which Peacock is leaning on high-profile re-releases like Oppenheimer while Paramount+ and Prime Video absorb other 2026 titles, leaving HBO Max positioned around prestige drama, genre sequels and issue-driven docuseries.
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