2026 is shaping up to be the biggest year for Westeros since Drogon melted the Iron Throne in the Game of Thrones series finale. Between new seasons for spinoffs A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon, the premiere of the stage play Game of Thrones: The Mad King, the 15th anniversary of the original show's premiere, and the recent announcement that a Game of Thrones movie is in the works about Aegon the Conqueror, fans have never had so much content coming out of the Seven Kingdoms at once.
We love to see that, and HBO's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, knows it and is making a conscious effort to keep the diehard Game of Thrones fans satisfied. During the recent Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit, Warner Bros. chief marketing officer Shauna Spenley weighed in on the state of the Game of Thrones franchise on screen, how audiences have developed "long-term expectations" for the property, and also touched on the Aegon's Conquest film as well as the spinoff shows. Spoiler alert: we're going to get a lot more Game of Thrones down the road if WB has its way.
"Game of Thrones is this incredible IP that seems in some ways infinite,” Spenley said. “And we saw just a couple of months ago with Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is really lighter fare of that IP, just kind of go supernova all over the world. And so there’s clearly a lot of demand. I think this theatrical endeavor will be no exception. House of the Dragon is coming later this summer, so it feels now like it really has an audience that has long-term expectations, and again, habitual expectations. They don't want to wait a couple of years for every installment."
Chief Marketing Officer at Warner Bros., Shauna Spenley, on the new “Game of Thrones” movie: “It feels like it has an audience with long-term expectations.”
— Variety (@Variety) April 23, 2026
Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit presented by Deloitte pic.twitter.com/Tw4crxvdcl
Warner Bros. Discovery wants to keep Thrones fans invested for the long run
As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time with my head in Westeros, obviously I'm all for what Spenley is saying here. The fantasy world that George R.R. Martin built for his A Song of Ice and Fire series is about as expansive as they come, with deep lore that can easily support new shows and movies for many more years. So far HBO has been wise about taking its time on that front, as both House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms came out of the gate very strong. We can only hope that the Aegon's Conquest film gets the same treatment.
On the other hand, I can't help but chuckle and shake my head a little, because you'd think WB and HBO would have known that Thrones fans were creatures of habit who were in this thing for the long haul from the massive success of the original show. No, people don't want to wait multiple years between seasons of TV, a trend that has become sadly commonplace in recent years. Game of Thrones itself ran every year up until its final season, and I think time has shown that the regularity and longevity of that series was a factor in just how thoroughly it captured the zeitgeist.
But hey, regardless of the route it took Warner Bros. to come to the conclusion that it could consistently service the Game of Thrones fandom, I'm glad it's gotten there. House of the Dragon only has two seasons left; A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has two more before it's caught up to Martin's source material. Aegon's Conquest represents a major expansion on the franchise that could lead into its next phase, where other shows and movies have to take up the mantle after Rhaenyra Targaryen and Ser Duncan the Tall ride into the sunset. It should be an interesting journey.
For now, House of the Dragon season 3 is the next Game of Thrones series in the pipeline. It premieres this June on HBO and HBO Max.
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