House of the Dragon will “evolve” the Game of Thrones franchise
By Dan Selcke
HBO had a giant hit with Game of Thrones, and they’re not planning to let it lie there. An upcoming prequel series called House of the Dragon is in production, set some 200 years before the story we know. Will it thrill fans like the original show did, or be too little, too late?
That’s a question that needs to be answered by showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, the latter of which directed great Game of Thrones episodes like “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter.” Speaking to Newsweek, he explained how the production team had to walk a fine line when making this new series.
“I’ve been involved in the franchise for a while. And I think it’s really important that the franchise evolve,” Sapochnik said. “It’s not the same story, it’s not the same characters, and therefore, it needs visually, evolution. But at the same time, you know, people want to see Game of Thrones, and we shouldn’t short change them of that.”
If you’ve seen the trailer or advance pictures from House of the Dragon, it definitely gives off Game of Thrones vibes; it still takes place in Westeros, it still involves knights and horses and such, and there’s a lot more Targaryen blonde wigs to go around.
At the same time, the story is different; House of the Dragon is about a brutal civil war fought between rival factions of the Targaryen family. It’ll be familiar, but the characters will be all new, with new actors bringing their own perspectives.
“I think most of the people coming into the show have seen the show and so they have in their mind, already a version of what they believe to be Game of Thrones,” Sapochnik said, “[The actors] were all quite adept at finding their feet — [but] at the same time it’s also nice to hear some fresh opinions, because otherwise we get a bit stuck in our ways, and I become the curmudgeon, which I’d hate to be.”
House of the Dragon will have “multiple seasons”
Like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon has a huge cast that gets involved in a complicated story, one too complex to tell in one season. We haven’t gotten confirmation that House of the Dragon has been renewed for season 2 yet, but Sapochnik sounds pretty confident. “You know, there’s multiple seasons to this show,” he said.
That’s not proof, but it’s something.
The first season of House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2022. In the meantime, you can see more of Sapochnik’s work in Finch, a new sci-fi movie he directed for Apple TV+ that’s coming out this weekend.
Next. Filming sex scenes on Game of Thrones could be a “frenzied mess”. dark
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