HBO Provides Game Of Thrones Updates: 'House of the Dragon' Summer 2024 Return, Jon Snow Sequel Rumored
HBO is eying a summer 2024 return for House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series.
Executive Francesca Orsi announced this plan along with other details about the state of the GoT universe.
Dragon concluded its first season last October, setting several HBO viewership records. The upcoming second season will run for eight episodes, compared to 10 in the first.
Orsi says Dragon will air for at least four seasons.
“It hasn’t been finalized yet, it’s still under discussion,” Orsi said. “George and Ryan are going to meet after the writers strike. They had originally planned to meet before the strike took place and that was to figure out at what point the series itself was going to end. Is it four seasons? I don’t think from where I sit at this point will be any less than four. But could be more. We’ll see.”
Unlike its predecessor, the prequel has completed source material to reference. So beware of spoilers on the internet. They are everywhere.
We'll take a summer 2024 return. Fans had feared the rumors of a two-plus year delay from the first to a second season.
There are a lot of dragons -- CGI -- after all.
"House of the Dragon" could run four seasons. (Credit: HBO)
HBO says Dragon continues to shoot in the United Kingdom while the recently picked-up prequel Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight shut down upon the ongoing writers' strike.
The network announced the order of the latter title earlier this year. Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms is based on George R.R. Martin’s three Dunk and Egg novellas, a much lighter look at the history of Westeros.
The plan is to adapt each of the novellas over three seasons, with a synopsis that reads as follows:
“A century before the events of ‘Game of Thrones,’ two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”
There are no dragons in Dunk and Egg, thus HBO says it plans to produce the series "faster than House of the Dragon."
Finally, and most importantly, Orsi refused to provide an update on the rumored Jon Snow sequel series.
Last summer, Martin confirmed the pitch for a continuation of Snow's journey last summer following a report that Kit Harington was on board.
But HBO chose to greenlight Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms over the Snow project.
“We’re just working deeply with the writers to get it in shape for potential greenlight, but at this point, no, no determination on whether it can go all the way,” Orsi said.
And while HBO still could add a third spinoff, the lack of go-ahead and investment elsewhere suggest the network is not convinced it will order the sequel.
Martin said at the time HBO had four spinoffs on the table in addition to Dragon, and was unlikely to produce all four projects.
The four options were the Jon Snow sequel, 10,000 Ships, 9 Voyages, and Dunk and Egg. Only that latter has been ordered, decreasing the chances the other three follow.
Martin said at the time HBO had four spinoffs on the table in addition to Dragon, and was unlikely to produce all four projects.
The four options were the Jon Snow sequel, 10,000 Ships, 9 Voyages, and Dunk and Egg. Of course, only that latter has been ordered, decreasing the chances the other three follow.
Additionally, the timetable for a sequel series is more sensitive than a prequel that introduces all new characters.
Game of Thrones ended in 2019. Even if HBO ordered the Snow project this year, it couldn't write, produce, edit, and air it until at least 2025. And picking up on a character many years later has never worked. See The Godfather Part III.
Best bet: The Jon Snow project doesn't pass through.
So the pressure is on House of the Dragon and Dunk and Egg to carry the torch for HBO.