‘House of the Dragon’ Locks Season 2 Cast, Production Team as Filming Begins
Filming is underway on the second season of “House of The Dragon,” HBO confirmed Tuesday.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the spinoff, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” tells the story of House Targaryen.
“We are thrilled to be shooting again with members of our original family as well as new talents on both sides of the camera,” series co-creator, executive producer and showrunner Ryan Condal said in a statement. “All your favorite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies, and riding their dragons into battle. We can’t wait to share what we have in store.”
To celebrate filming, HBO shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the Iron Throne at Leavesden Studios in the United Kingdom.
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The main cast of season 2 includes Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.
In addition to Condal, Martin serves as a co-creator and executive producer. Other executive producers include Sara Hess, Alan Taylor, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Loni Peristere, Vince Gerardis. Condal is the sole showrunner after Miguel Sapochnik’s exit in August.
HBO has given the upcoming second season a shortened run of eight episodes, TheWrap previously confirmed. Individuals with knowledge of the matter said the move is due only to the needs of the story being told and not to any other concerns.
HBO and HBO Max chief Casey Bloys previously said he expects the second season to premiere “sometime in 2024.”
“We’re just starting to put the plan together, and just like last time, there are so many unknowns,” Bloys told Vulture in an interview in October. “It’s not to be coy or secretive, but you don’t want to say it’s going to be ready on this date, and then you have to move it.”
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Condal previously told TheWrap that “House of the Dragon” is a shorter story, all-told, than “Game of Thrones” and likely won’t run as long as the flagship series did, so while the wait between seasons could be longer, the story may wrap up within a few seasons.
“This particular story, the one that I’m telling right now, the Dance of the Dragons as the original series, it doesn’t have that breadth to it,” he said. “Not to say it’s any less interesting. It’s a really great series. But I think also part of making a series is knowing when to drop the curtain on it and call an end.”
That said, Condal teased that there’s a rich Targaryen history to be mined before and after the events of “House of the Dragon” that could be continued in another HBO series.
“But I’ve always said the show is called ‘House of the Dragon.’ It’s not called ‘The Dance of the Dragons.’ And I think there is a very rich 300-year Targaryen dynasty to mine many stories out of, and that is the thing that I think is the most promising for the future for fans of Westeros is that George [R.R. Martin] has written some deeply complex history. That’s three centuries long that begins with Aegon’s Conquest – actually it begins before Aegon’s Conquest with the story of the Targaryens leaving old Valeria because of the dream of one little girl. There are so many stories to be mined out of there. I think as long as there’s a willing audience, there is plenty of Targaryen to come.”
The first season of “House of the Dragon” is available to stream now on HBO Max.
