HBO ready with its ‘HPL’ series

Even as the Indian Premier League (IPL) is in the news, and not necessarily for all the right reasons, HBO is readying for its very own ‘HPL’ series – Hollywood Premier League. Starting April 1, the 90-day movie bonanza will celebrate and showcase some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters and premieres on HBO in India.

by exchange4media Mumbai Bureau
Published: Mar 19, 2009 9:45 AM | 2 min read

Even as the Indian Premier League (IPL) is in the news, and not necessarily for all the right reasons, HBO is readying for its very own ‘HPL’ series – Hollywood Premier League. Starting April 1, the 90-day movie bonanza will celebrate and showcase some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters and premieres on HBO in India.

Commenting on the initiative, Shruti Bajpai, Country Manager, HBO Asia, said “HPL is really the biggest festival of 2009 that we are starting with a bang with an all-out multi-media campaign. Continuing with our mantra of ‘Big New Most’, a major chunk of movies shown in these three months would be premieres on Indian television, while the rest would be blockbusters.”

She further said, “Just as IPL is cricket that transcends the sport and goes into the realm of entertainment, we as an entertainment channel are looking at non-stop viewer engagement for 90 days. Going further, HBO has some interesting non-movie formats in programming, too. We will talk about them closer to their launch.”

As part of the HPL series, HBO viewers will be treated to TV premieres of Oscar celebrated movies like ‘American Gangster’ and ‘Vantage Point’, along with premieres of Academy Award winning dramas like ‘No Country For Old Men’ and ‘In Bruges’.

Slated for the 11 pm slot, Hollywood Premier League will air Box Office hits like ‘Spiderman 3’, ‘Shrek The Third’, ‘Transformers’, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Blood Diamond’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Dreamgirls’, ‘Pursuit of Happyness’, ‘A Mighty Heart’, ‘The Invasion’, ‘The Brave One’, ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’, ‘30 Days of Night’ and ‘Cloverfield’.