House of the Dragon Production To Start in March 2023, Release Expected 2024

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Premiering on 21 August in the US and early the next morning in the UK, House of the Dragon didn’t exactly make a smooth approach to the landing site. After the way that Game of Thrones ended and reports of a cancelled spinoff after filming the pilot, many fans of the Westeros show from seasons one to six seemed to be losing interest in returning to George R.R. Martin’s world – as shown by HBO, that is.

After the first episode landed, fans were pleasantly surprised, with the increased budget on Season 1 of the series it prequels clearly on show, as was a return to quality story writing and scripting. As each episode passed, intrigue and support for House of the Dragon only seemed to grow, which would have been unfathomable for millions in 2019. Regardless, the dragon show was a resounding success.

Now, with that supremely brutal ending in the books, fans want more House of the Dragon, and undoubtedly, over the coming months, word will spread further to get even more fans in on the action. There’s good reason to be excited about the next on-screen chapter, but reports have already funnelled through that suggest the Dance of the Dragons won’t start up again until 2024.

A thunderous return to form

It should be noted that House of the Dragon is being helmed by a completely different showrunner to that of Game of Thrones. The latter used David Benioff and D.B. Weiss from start to finish, while the former is run by Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, who co-created the show with Martin. Even though the trailers showed a very different age and angle for the new show, it was always going to be tied to Game of Thrones in the minds of the audience and critics, for better or for worse.

Luckily for HBO, the gamble on dragons and the Targaryen dynasty paid off. In the UK, viewership figures delivered a new record for US drama at launch. It earned 4.1 million viewers on Sky Atlantic and the streaming service NOW. Impressively, the show managed to collect more interest as it progressed, with the finale earning 30 per cent more social activity globally than the premiere. While much of the credit goes to the writers’ room and showrunners, it’s impossible to deny the captivating performances on-screen.

The dragons were grand, some were young and being trained, others smaller and adolescent, one had a demonic look and noodle neck, and then there were the truly colossal beasts, all of which were used very well and sparingly. Still, even with these scaly mythical beasts on show, the actors really brought it home. Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Eve Best, Matt Smith – even when he doesn’t speak a word – Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, and even Graham McTavish in a background role did exceedingly well.

Even with these actors hitting the heights expected of the show, none can reach the standard set by the decaying king, Paddy Considine. Needing to play an ageing and deteriorating king over a time-hopping span is quite the challenge, but it all comes together when he’s hunch-backed and half-masked in his final days. Even the original creator of his character, Viserys, sent Considine a text saying: “Your Viserys is better than my Viserys.”

Was House of the Dragon destined to be a success?

Much has been made about the goodwill seemingly cemented by Game of Thrones being turned ill with the final stint, but given the themes and legacy of the original show, House of the Dragon could have been seen as a sure-fire success. When details emerged about the dragon show featuring time jumps and the actor changes, some were suspicious, but in the end, it still promised drama, death, schemes, and, of course, dragons. It’s difficult to understate how much of a draw dragons – especially when depicted so well on-screen – are in modern entertainment.

We’ve seen the likes of Shenron, Smaug, and Alduin command audiences across mediums, but the desire for dragon content goes even further. Even in slot machines, the dragons are a force to be reckoned with. Dragon’s Cache is a perpetual top-ranking game, while the 16 other dragon slots, like Dragon Dance and Dragon’s Fire, have also proven popular. Given the medium here, you’re not going to see drama surrounding dragons or dragon battles take place, but their presence in Dragon’s Luck and Dragon King is undoubtedly why the slots appeal to so many.

Returning for round two in a couple of years

While it is a shame that it will take so long for the dragons and their riders to return to the screen, news of the official renewal of House of the Dragon was more than welcomed. It has been reported and relayed by outlets that production in Cáceres (Spain) will begin in March 2023, running until June. For the first season, production began in April 2021, wrapping in February of this year. That ten-month window will have been needed to establish sets and the like, so a shorter window for the second season could be expected.

Even with that, the majority of outlets are expecting a 2024 premiere for the first episode of Season 2. Condal, who won’t be accompanied by Sapochnik as co-showrunner for the second stint, hasn’t ruled out a late 2023 premiere, but logic points to a start the following year. It’s quite a while to wait, but there’s always the original novel to read from George R.R. Martin if you want to know what happens next.

House of the Dragon succeeded in bringing praise from critics and audiences back to the TV version of Westeros. The civil war is all set up now, so all that fans have to do is wait.