While winter isn’t coming anytime soon, The House of the Dragon is. HBO announced that the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series is currently in production and is expected to launch on the cable network sometime in 2022, according to Deadline.
The House of the Dragon, which was ordered straight-to-series, comes from the minds of Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, and Ryan Condal (writer, Colony) and Miguel Sapochnik (director, Game of Thrones). According to Deadline, the series will be set 300 years before Game of Thrones takes place, and will focus on the family lineage and foundation of House Targaryen.
Via Deadline, HBO released photo from a socially distanced table read for the series. In the photo, many of the announced cast can be spotted. So far, Paddy Considine (Dead Man’s Shoes) will play King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One) will star as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers) will play Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith (Doctor Who) will play Prince Daemoon Targaryen, and Steve Toussaint will star as Lord Corlys Velaryon. Fans of Martin’s books are aware that Lord Corlys Velaryon is alternatively known as the Sea Snake, and he eventually become Hand to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.
The House of the Dragon is based on Fire & Blood, a book detailing the entire Targaryen line. According to Deadline, the series was co-created by Martin and Condal, with the pilot script of the series being written by Condal. Condal will additionally serve as the series’ showrunner alongside Sapochnik.
Sara Lee Hess (producer, Orange Is the New Black), Vince Gerardis (producer, Game of Thrones) and Ron Schmidt (producer, Watchmen) are also attached to produce the series which, via Deadline, will be a ten-episode series. In addition to Game of Thrones directing alum Sapochnik who will direct the pilot episode of House of the Dragon, the other series directors will include Greg Yaitanes (director, Castle Rock), Clare Kilner (director, The Alienist) and Geeta V. Patel (director, Meet the Patels).