If, like many, you are transfixed by the siren call of Beyoncé’s still-mysterious project “Lemonade,” good news: whatever it is, you’ll be able to watch it free on HBO this weekend. According to The Hollywood Reporter, non-subscribers can enjoy a free preview this weekend of HBO and Cinemax—meaning they can tune in for the hour-long world premiere of Beyoncé’s mystery project on Saturday at nine P.M., and/or an encore that will air Sunday.
This timing is, of course, very convenient for HBO, which surely wouldn’t mind a viewership boost for Sunday’s season premieres of Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep. Other programming attractions: the pay-TV premiere of Jurassic World, an encore of Confirmation, and a new episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight. So, it’s a win-win: Beyoncé’s new gift to the world is free for all to enjoy, and in return she brings HBO a potential legion of new subscribers to its addictive Sunday lineup. (Assuming there’s actually anyone left in the world who has neither subscribed to nor borrowed login credentials for HBO.)
Beyoncé fans, who have had their ears to the ground for a new album since the surprise release of “Formation,” first caught wind of the project through a teaser released by HBO last weekend. An hour is definitely enough time for, say, another video album à la Beyoncé, but these days it’s usually best for all of us not to pretend to know what on earth Beyoncé might have up her sleeve. Besides, whatever it is—a video album, another HBO documentary about herself, an hour-long video of her standing in a park in the rain—we’ll all be tuning in, and we’ll probably enjoy it.
