Rhys Ifans, star of “House of the Dragon”, gives an update on the Game of Thrones prequel series’ premiere. The planned HBO series is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood, which takes place two centuries before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. “House of the Dragon“ will have ten episodes and will premiere in 2022, according to reports.
The “Dance of the Dragons,” a civil battle between the reigning Targaryen dynasty that is seen as the beginning of the end of their dominion over Westeros, will be explored in “House of the Dragon”. For the prequel series, the prestige network enlisted a cast that included ex-Doctor Who star Matt Smith, rising star Olivia Cooke, and Ifans, who is presently reprising his role as Lizard in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The show will feature 17 dragons, a huge increase over Game of Thrones’ three, as befitting a story about the Targaryen family.
Despite the fact that a “House of the Dragon” trailer was released earlier this year and generated a lot of buzzes, Ifans teases in an exclusive interview with SR that fans may have to wait a while for episode 1. He claims to be excited about what the show has in store for viewers but refuses to reveal anything, preferring to let viewers discover the story’s surprises for themselves. However, Ifans did say that HBO is still filming “House of the Dragon”, which could indicate that it is still a long way off from airing. Check out the rest of Ifans’ quotes below:
You have to wait and see. And I think you’ll have to wait a while because I’m not sure when it’s going to be released. We’re still shooting it. But yeah, exciting. Very exciting… I don’t want to give too much away. I can’t give too much away.
“House of the Dragon”, like Game of Thrones, uses filming locations all over the world, with rumors of the crew stopping in England, Spain, Portugal, and California. It’s understandable that this takes time, and main photography has been underway since April, with some brief COVID-19-related delays throughout the summer. HBO has been tight-lipped about a release date for the show, even as they tease it with footage and still photographs, and Ifans reveals that this extends to the core cast as well.
Many people will be disappointed by the revelation that the Game of Thrones prequel will take longer than expected. Though many fans abandoned the original series following Season 8’s contentious conclusion, the “House of the Dragon” teaser unexpectedly lured them back in, reminding them of what made it the world’s most popular TV show at the time. The network will be eager to get this right after what they hoped would be a huge franchise saw its goodwill crumble in the final few episodes, and they’ve already canceled a pricey Naomi Watts-starring pilot in favor of this one. Given all of this, the “House of the Dragon” creative team is likely to take their time, and fans won’t mind waiting if the prequel proves to be worth their time.