“Game of Thrones” came to an end last May and HBO has wasted no time in getting to work on continuing the franchise, ordering to series the “GoT” spinoff “House of the Dragon” last October.
But when can you expect this 10-episode prequel, co-created by George R.R. Martin and “Colony” co-creator Ryan Condal, to actually make it to the airwaves? Well, we can’t tell you for certain, but HBO programming chief Casey Bloys gave TheWrap his best guess — which is essentially the best guess you’re gonna get right now.
“They are in-room writing,” Bloys told us during the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday. “My suspicion is, this is looking a ways out, but my suspicion is it would be on air sometime in 2022. That’s with a big asterisk, but right now, that’s what I would say.”
“House of the Dragon” is set in the early days of Westeros and focused on House Targaryen, the family that Emila Clarke’s Daenerys belonged to, along with her brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd) and nephew Aegon Targaryen a.k.a. Jon Snow (Kit Harington). The series is based on Martin’s “Fire & Blood” book, which details the lineage of the Targaryens, and takes place 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.”
Miguel Sapochnik — who directed several fan-favorite episodes of “GoT,” such as “The Long Night,” “Battle of the Bastards” and “Hardhome” — and Condal will serve as co-showrunners on the series and executive produce alongside Martin and Vince Gerardis. Sapochnik will direct the pilot and additional episodes.
“The ‘Game of Thrones’ universe is so rich with stories,” Bloys said. “We look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros along with Miguel, Ryan and George.”
The “House of the Dragon” announcement came last October on the same day that news broke the “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot starring Naomi Watts, known internally as “Bloodmoon,” had been scrapped at HBO. Ordered to pilot in 2018, that untitled project from Martin and “Kingsman” screenwriter Jane Goldman was set thousands of years before the events of the original “Game of Thrones” series in the era known as the Age of Heroes.
You can find out why HBO decided to go with “House of the Dragon” over “Bloodmoon” by reading the rest of our interview with Bloys here.