The author behind Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, has confirmed that HBO’s upcoming spin-off prequel series, House of the Dragon, has now wrapped filming in London. That’s right; it looks like we will all be heading back to Westeros soon, as the network now enters the final stages of production.
Martin’s bestselling fantasy novels, beginning with the 1996 A Song of Ice and Fire, helped usher Game of Thrones into the world of TV, where the story became a global phenomenon. Despite the beloved TV series ending after eight seasons in 2019, we are far from done with the world of Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon, based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood, is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and chronicles the downfall of the House Targaryen. In 2019 the prequel spin-off received a straight-to-series order, and principal photography began in April 2021.
The bestselling author updated fans about the production in a blog post, sharing that filming has now finished. He then went on to assure Game of Throne enthusiasts that, despite more work needing to be done on the post-production and special effects front, House of Dragon won’t disappoint in terms of its writing, directing, and acting.
“Exciting news out of London — I am informed that shooting has wrapped for the first season of House of Dragon. Yes, all ten episodes. I have seen rough cuts of a few of them, and I’m loving them,” Martine writes.
“Of course, a lot more work needs to be done. Special effects, colour timing, score, all the post-production work. But the writing, the directing, the acting all look terrific. I hope you will like them as much as I do. My hat is off to Ryan [Condal] and Miguel [Sapcochnik] and their team, and to our amazing cast.”
Getting Martin’s stamp of approval is a good sign, and hopefully, we won’t have a repeat of Game of Thrones season 8’s famously divisive ending. House of the Dragon is scheduled to premiere on HBO sometime in 2022. We will keep you posted as soon as we know a firm release date.