Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon "looks spectacular," according to HBO chief

Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith in House of the Dragon
(Image credit: HBO)

Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is currently filming in the UK, and it seems like things are going well. 

"It looks spectacular," HBO content chief Casey Bloys told Variety. "The cast that Miguel [Sapochnik] and Ryan [Condal] have put together looks good." Sapochnik and Condal are the showrunners on House of the Dragon, and Condal is also credited as a co-creator alongside author George R.R. Martin – the series is based on his spin-off novel, Fire & Blood. Sapochnik also directed six episodes of Game of Thrones, including the Emmy-winning Battle of the Bastards.

Set around 300 years before the events of the original HBO show, the prequel series will tell the story of House Targaryen and the famed Targaryen civil war that became known as the 'Dance of the Dragons'. The cast of the upcoming series includes Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, and Paddy Considine as the Targaryens in question, as well as Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke. 

House of the Dragon started filming at the end of last month, and HBO recently shared the first official look at some of the cast members in costume – you can see the photos here. The series is currently due to air on HBO sometime in 2022. A series based on Martin's Dunk and Egg books is also in the early stages of development, so it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of Westeros. Martin is reportedly involved in the development of at least six other series, too, including an animated show. 

However, House of the Dragon is the only series that we can expect to see on the small screen anytime soon. "House of the Dragon is the only one shooting," Bloys added. "All the other ones are in various stages of development. People may think we have 10 series shooting at the moment. There's one that will be on the air in 2022. We'll see how the other scripts come along."

While we wait for House of the Dragon to arrive on our screens sometime next year, fill out your watch list with our picks of the best TV shows of 2020.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.