House of the Dragon, The Game of Thrones prequel, which is presently set for a 2022 premiere on HBO Max, has officially resumed filming after a brief hiatus. Although the majority of the series is being shot in the United Kingdom, work was halted two days ago after a staff member tested positive for COVID. The production member and close contacts were quarantined in accordance with testing standards and general industry guidelines, and filming has now resumed. The HBO series isn’t the only one to have been halted in recent days owing to positive coronavirus tests; another HBO drama Westworld and Netflix’s Bridgerton were also halted.
House of the Dragon, based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, will take set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones and will recount the narrative of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that brought us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen). Matt Smith plays Daemon Targaryen, Rhys Ifans plays Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint plays Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best plays Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno plays Mysaria, Fabien Frankel plays Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish plays an unknown character in House of the Dragon.
Showrunners and executive producers will be Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. Executive producers include Martin, Vince Gerardis, Sara Hess, and Ron Schmidt, with Greg Yaitanes (Banshee, House) serving as co-executive producer. The series will also be directed by Clare Kilner (The Alienist: Angel of Darkness, The Wedding Date) and Geeta V. Patel (Meet the Patels, The Witcher). Ramin Djawadi, the composer of Game of Thrones and Westworld, will return to music the upcoming prequel series.
Only fans of George R.R. Martin’s popular book series knew the identities and acts of the many individuals that made up the series’ epic ensemble before Game of Thrones debuted on HBO. However, the personalities and their names have become so well-known around the world that it won’t be long before “Arya Smith” graduates from college and “Daenerys Johansson” says, “Let’s just go with Greg,” while expecting her first kid.
However, in 2022, HBO will release House of the Dragon, a film version of Martin’s work that takes place decades before the actions of the main series and chronicles the demise of House Targaryen. Going back that far in Westeros’ history means meeting a new cast of characters, many charming, some cruel, and others plain dodgy. While there’s nothing wrong with going into a game blind and learning about a character from the ground up, I’m here to provide some context for the names and faces we’ve seen so far in official photographs, in case you’re trying to figure out who’s behind all the palace machinations.
Warner Bros. has made the industry-shaking decision to distribute their 2021 film slate on HBO Max as well as in cinemas, a move that will help the freshly launched streaming service consolidate its position at the top (as soon as they can figure out the dang Roku deal). After the phenomenal success of Game of Thrones, HBO certainly knows a lot about delivering a record-breaking international sensation. Naturally, they’re planning to bring their greatest success to their flagship streaming service with the coming up soon spinoff House of the Dragon, and WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar signed off with a little refresh and first-look tease for the series in a blog post timed to today’s big announcement, and you should get ready for a lot more deposition and plot details in the following weeks, but filming is about to begin! All we can do is waiting and stay tune at 123Movies, isn’t it?