A year after it arrived on Crave, Heated Rivalry is going back to where hockey belongs: a big room full of people. Cineplex cinemas start screening the Canadian romance on Friday 6 November, part of a theatrical run that also takes in the United States and the United Kingdom, with Australia and New Zealand following in December.
Watch the trailer
It is an unusual route, running in reverse of the usual trip from cinema to streaming. For a six-episode series that people have already watched at home, the pitch is the room: a crowd watching Shane and Ilya’s story unfold together, on a screen built for slapshots.
What is screening, and where
The engagement covers all six episodes of the first season, shown as special marathon screenings on select dates. Sphere Abacus, the Bell Media distribution arm that sells the show internationally, arranged the run, which is timed to the series’ first anniversary.
Sabrina Lantos / Crave
In Canada, the screenings are at Cineplex from 6 November. Cineplex.com lists both a full-season marathon and two-episode screenings, so viewers can commit to the whole season in one sitting or take it in instalments. Participating locations, dates and prices are on each event page; check your local theatre before planning a night around it.
Elsewhere, the marathons start the same day at Regal in the US and at Cineworld and Picturehouse in the UK. Madman has picked up theatrical and home entertainment rights for Australia and New Zealand, where screenings begin on 5 December.
Hana Palmer, Sphere Abacus’s executive director of global distribution and partnerships, called the show “a global phenomenon creating a rush of social media and press activity wherever it lands.”
The series, briefly
Created, written and directed by Jacob Tierney and produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment, Heated Rivalry adapts Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels. Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov, two of the biggest stars in Major League Ice Hockey, whose secret rookie fling becomes an eight-year story of love and denial. François Arnaud, Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Sophie Nélisse, Robbie G.K. and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova round out the cast. The show won best drama series at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Williams has kept busy since: season two of CBC’s The Assembly has landed Hudson Williams as a guest.
Where to stream it
The first season streams in full on Crave in Canada. HBO Max carries it in the US and Australia, Sky and NOW in the UK, and Neon in New Zealand. For Canadians who know HBO shows only as a Crave tile, note the reversal here: HBO programming reaches Canada through Crave, and this time a Crave Original went the other way.
Season two
Crave renewed the series in December 2025, and Bell Media has since said season two is set to premiere in spring 2027. It will stream on Crave in Canada, on HBO Max in the US and Australia, on Sky and NOW in the UK and on Neon in New Zealand. No exact date has been announced. Until then, the cinema run is the only new way to see it.
Where to watch
- Heated Rivalry marathon screenings: Cineplex, Canada, from Friday 6 November (select theatres and dates)
- Heated Rivalry marathon screenings: Regal (US), Cineworld and Picturehouse (UK), from 6 November
- Heated Rivalry screenings: Australia and New Zealand via Madman, from 5 December
- Heated Rivalry season one: Crave (CA); HBO Max (US, AU); Sky and NOW (UK); Neon (NZ), streaming now
- Heated Rivalry season two: Crave (CA), spring 2027
Sources
- Sphere Abacus: Sphere Abacus secures theatrical screenings for Crave Original series Heated Rivalry, 22 Oct 2026
- Bell Media: Crave Original HEATED RIVALRY Continues to Expand Cast for Season 2, 13 Aug 2026
- Bell Media: Crave Greenlights HEATED RIVALRY Season 2, 12 Dec 2025
- Bell Media: HEATED RIVALRY scores major international sales, 19 Nov 2025
- Sphere Abacus: Heated Rivalry programme page
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