“House of the Dragon” Season 2 is set to make its debut in the “early summer” of 2024 on HBO, as confirmed by HBO network chief Casey Bloys during a recent press event in New York. While the event featured the exclusive screening of the second season’s trailer for reporters, specific details about its content were held under embargo.
During the Q&A session of the event, Bloys expressed his anticipation for the commencement of shooting for the “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,” with production expected to begin next spring, pending the conclusion of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Derived from author George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” book, “Fire & Blood,” “House of the Dragon” delves into the Targaryen dynasty’s history within the fictional realm of Westeros. The narrative unfolds almost two centuries prior to the events of “Game of Thrones” and about a century after the Targaryens successfully united the Seven Kingdoms.
The inaugural season of “House of the Dragon” consisted of ten episodes, running from August 21 to October 23, 2022. It received an early renewal for a second season, owing to its record-breaking ratings on HBO.
Filming for “House of the Dragon” Season 2 commenced at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios on April 11. Importantly, this production remained unaffected by the Writers Guild of America strike, which began on May 2 and concluded on September 27, as well as the SAG-AFTRA strike that began on July 14.
This was due to the completion of scripts before the filming process began, ensuring that writers were not working on the series during the strike. Showrunner Ryan Condal remained involved in a producing-only capacity. Furthermore, the production’s actors are under contract with UK guild Equity, rather than SAG-AFTRA.
The second season of this “Game of Thrones” prequel features an ensemble cast, including Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Notably, returning cast members from Season 1 include Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.
New additions to the cast for Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” include Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, and Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull.
HBO and Max chairman/CEO Casey Bloys disclosed the “House of the Dragon” Season 2 premiere window during the press event. This announcement aligns with Bloys’ previous estimation, as reported by Variety earlier in the year.
During the event, Bloys also issued an apology for the use of fake Twitter accounts to engage with TV critics, a behavior that was uncovered in a recent report by Rolling Stone.
