HBO has announced that it is renewing House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel, for a second season.
The announcement comes hot off the heels of the season one premiere, which brought in a massive 20 million viewers, becoming the largest audience for any HBO original show ever. It’s clear that there’s still enthusiasm for Game of Thrones, but HBO is likely closely monitoring its success as a measurement of where to move with its streaming strategy.
House of the Dragon was originally approved for one ten-episode season back in 2019. The prequel is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, and takes place 200 years before the start of Game of Thrones. The series follows the infamous House Targaryen, which ultimately ended up falling into madness.
House of the Dragon stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, and Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower. Martin and Ryan Condal (Colony) are serving as co-creators on the series.
House of the Dragon is debuting amidst a host of shake-ups at HBO Max and Warner Bros. Discovery, as Warner Bros. has launched a massive wave of layoffs and cuts. This has resulted in the cancellation of Batgirl, a film that was near finished, and the removal of multiple films and TV shows from HBO Max, like Moonshot and Infinity Train. In total there have been 37 titles pulled from the streaming service’s library, and Stephen Neary, creator of The Fungies, tells Decider that creators weren’t given any heads up.
At the same time, House of the Dragon is about to face some major competition in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, which debuts on Amazon Prime on September 2. That series has cost Amazon an eye-popping $1 billion to produce, and will likely inform where Amazon goes next, much like House of the Dragon and HBO.
