Hold onto your helmets, Heated Rivalry fans! Hot off the presses comes some cool news about everyone's favorite ice hockey gay romance drama, and about the future appearances of Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, the characters played by Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.
A report in Deadline over the weekend scooped what to expect next from series creator and Out100 honoree Jacob Tierney: Not just six steamy episodes of season 2 for 2027 but also another season to follow, filmed back-to-back in Ontario and other Canadian locales. Production of season 3 is expected to wrap by the end of this month or early next month, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reported on Saturday.
Variety first reported in February that Tierney promised an April 2027 release date for season 2, but last month he was less specific, telling CBS News viewers can expect new episodes in "late spring."
But that's not all. When season 3 is in the can, Tierney's plan is to shift production to a standalone Heated Rivalry film, according to Deadline, The report described the movie as either a Christmas special or a holiday-themed episode that will have a theatrical release in December 2027.
Sources tell Deadline that Ilya and Shane do not appear in the Christmas movie. "Details are murky but I hear it is centered on the other season 1 couple, Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.), with additional characters from the series also featured," the article noted.
Fans of the bestselling Game Changers novels by author Rachel Reid that Heated Rivalry is based on will note that she has written a short story, Merry Christmas, Scott and Kip!, which focuses on the players' first Christmas together as a couple.
However, a spokesperson for the company that produces Heated Rivalry, Crave, told Deadline they could not confirm any additional projects.
That said, there's been rampant speculation about the possibility of two seasons of Heated Rivalry being filmed back-to-back since production began in August.
A Cameo video by recurring guest star Dylan Walsh was leaked to the public, in which he said “I think we’re doing 12 [episodes] this time” before briefly writing in his profile that “a video went viral that got me in trouble.”
Last month, Tierney appeared on Radio Andy, Bravo star Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show, and confirmed that just like season 1, season 2 will consist of six episodes. While no one has officially acknowledged a season 3 pickup, Tierney did say in that same interview that they will be done filming by the end of the year without specifying what exactly the shoot covers.
Fans who want to see Ilya and Shane's budding romance on the big screen have been enjoying the series’ first season at Regal Cinema, AMC, and Cinemark locations for paired-episode screenings last weekend. Variety reported the episodes have so far raked in $1.4 million.
For fans who want a more interactive experience, Regal Cinemas nationwide will be offering them an opportunity to feel "the heat" — literally — by presenting the final two episodes of season 1 starting November 14 in 4DX.
“Fans made it loud and clear that they wanted more Heated Rivalry on the big screen, so we’re turning up the heat,” Brooks LeBoeuf, senior vice president of U.S. content at Regal, said in a statement reported by Variety. “Episodes five and six bring years of tension between Shane and Ilya to a boiling point, and 4DX takes it all to another level. Together with CJ 4DPLEX, we’re giving fans a chance to feel every hit on the ice, every stolen embrace and every pulse-pounding moment in between. You may know these episodes by heart, but you’ve never experienced them like this.”
