House Of The Dragon has been given the greenlight for season two just days after the first episode of the HBO series premiered on August 21.
Set years earlier in the same universe of George R.R. Martin’s books, House of the Dragon depicts the glory days of the ancestors of popular Game of Thrones characters, such as Daenerys Targaryen.
The show raked in a total of 10 million viewers the night of its premiere, Variety reported, causing little hesitation in a renewal.
Due to additional playbacks, the number has spiked up to a whopping 20 million, causing the Game Of Thrones prequel to be HBO’s largest premiere audience to date.
Renewed: House Of The Dragon has been renewed on HBO for season two after its successful premiere on August 21
The executive vice president of HBO Programming, Francesca Orsi, released a statement following the news of the show’s quick second season renewal, according to Variety.
‘We are beyond proud of what the entire ‘House of the Dragon’ team has accomplished with season one,’ she explained.
‘Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.’
‘A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two,’ Francesca concluded at the end of her statement.
Record breaking: The first episode premiere raked in 10 million viewers on its first night on August 21, and has raked up to 20 million since the premiere, making it HBO’s largest premiere audience to date
Prequel: House Of The Dragon is a prequel to the successful Game Of Thrones series, and is set 200 years before
According to The Hollywood Reporter, season one took almost an entire year of filming, with an additional lengthy post-production to perfect the visual effects in the HBO series.
The first season will air a total of 10 episodes, which costed about $20 million each to film.
The number of episodes that will be included in the second season has yet to be revealed to fans, along with the an expected release date or year.
Based on a best-selling book: House Of The Dragon is based off of George R.R. Martin’s novel, Fire & Blood
Talented cast: A new cast was involved in the spinoff series, such as Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, and Rhys Ifans
House Of The Dragon stars a new cast, including Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Eve Best, Milly Alcock, and Rhys Ifans.
In an interview with GQ which was released shortly before the big premiere date, Matt opened up about starring on the show and how he had been a big fan of Game Of Thrones.
‘I thought it was wildly entertaining. And I tuned in, on a Monday in England, like many other people. I enjoy sort of magic realism and literature and I enjoy fantasy,’ he explained.
‘And I think when that can be delivered, coherently and interestingly and fully on screen, then it’s a real win. Which that certainly did,’ the Doctor Who star added.
Big fan: Before he landed the role of Prince Daemon Targaryen, Matt revealed in an interview that he had always been a big fan of Game Of Thrones; seen in August in London
House Of The Dragon is set 200 years before the events that took place in Game Of Thrones, and tells the detailed story of House Targaryen.
The successful HBO prequel and spinoff is based on George R.R. Martin’s novel, Fire & Blood.
When talking about the series with the New York Times, George stated that, ‘House Of The Dragon is more like historical fiction with some dragons thrown in. It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy.’
The author also explained that if the prequel series is successful, there is a chance for a few additional spinoffs in the future.
‘Well, we are developing a number of other spinoffs. There’s the Jon Snow sequel show, and the rest are all prequels. There’s Ten Thousand Ships about Nymeria — that’s like a thousand years before and about how the Rhoynar came to Dorne. That’s an Odyssey-like epic.’