HBO’s prequel to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is on track for a 2022 debut.
In an interview during the Television Critics Association, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys shared the highly-anticipated news: “My guess is sometime in 2022." Bloys also confirmed that writing is already underway, according to Deadline.
The straight-to-series spin-off will be based on George RR Martin’s bookFire & Blood. The novel is set 300 years before the events of Game of Thronesbegan and tells the story of House Targaryen. Together with Martin, Ryan Condal, best known for his work on TV show Colony, will also be working on the adaptation project.
House of the Dragon is one of four Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works at HBO. An untitled prequel starring Naomi Watts was not picked up by HBO for a full series in October 2019.
Of the failed prequel pilot, Bloys said: “In development, in pilots, sometimes things come together, sometimes they don’t."
Bloys also praised the pilot’s showrunner Jane Goldman, remarking that Goldman took on the challenge on “beautifully” and that “there was a lot more world creation [involved] because she set hers 8,000 years before the show, so it required a lot more".
He added: “One of the things about House of Dragons, there is a text, there is a book so that made it a little bit more of a road map for a series order."
A 2022 debut will surely disappoint fans who were hopeful for a sooner premiere date, but at least confirmation it is going ahead will cushion the blow after Goldman's spin-off was cancelled.
