It will be a while before HBO brings House of the Dragon back for a second season of violence, deception, and ferocious fantasy creatures. HBO and HBO Max content CEO Casey Bloys spoke about the Game of Thrones spin-off, saying the Summer of 2024 “is a good guess” for when the series will return. Production for House of the Dragon Season 2 is underway, though it takes a long time to create the show’s effects and film all the backstabbing drama.
Bloys is cautiously choosing scripts for House of the Dragon. The last thing HBO wants is another Game of Thrones upheaval where scores of fans lashed out against the final season. “My philosophy is a good script is number one priority,” Bloys says. “I am not doing it based on wanting to have one a year, two a year. I want to do it based on the scripts that we’re excited about.”
At one point, HBO had numerous Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works, which the network boiled down to a few promising premises. “Remember to get ‘House of the Dragon’ following up from ‘Game of Thrones,’ we developed a lot of shows, shot a pilot, developed a bunch of scripts and we got ‘House of the Dragon,'” Bloys explains. “To do that again is going to take the same amount of effort. You have to develop a lot of things, try things. You never know what’s going to work. So we’re currently doing that. I’m not opposed to any number of shows. There’s probably a natural limit to how many fans want, but I’m open to any as long as we feel really good about the scripts and the prospects for a series.”
“It takes a while to get one that hits the mark,” he adds. “I know George [R.R. Martin] feels the same way. You want to do one that everybody’s really proud of and excited about.”
It’s refreshing to hear HBO is treading lightly on Game of Thrones content. Oversaturation can destroy even the strongest pillars of pop culture despite their quality. House of the Dragon managed to win fans back to the Game of Thrones franchise. However, if Game of Thrones gets as brazen as The Walking Dead, fans could tire of riding atop dragons and being skeeved out by Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen.