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Game of Thrones Targaryen Spinoff House of the Dragon to Start Production This Spring — Find Out When

Our little birds tell us something very exciting: Game of Thrones‘ first spinoff, House of the Dragon, will start flapping its scaly wings in earnest very soon.

OK, it wasn’t little birds, it was Casey Bloys, chief content officer at HBO and HBO Max. And in an interview Wednesday, he confirmed to TVLine that the Targaryen-centric prequel will begin production this spring.

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“They’re prepping,” Bloys said. “They start shooting in April.” He added that showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal “have been writing for a long time” and have drafts of all 10 Season 1 episodes “in various stages.”

LRMOnline first reported the spinoff’s start date.

House of the Dragon is set 300 years before the original Thrones series and will follow Daenerys’ ancestors as House Targaryen begins its historic downfall. Thrones author George R.R. Martin and Condal (Colony) created the prequel; Sapochnik served as director on some of Thrones‘ biggest episodes.

The cast so far includes Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Paddy Considine (The Outsider) as King Viserys, Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) as Alicent Hightower, and Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers) as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

The project is a reworking of the rejected spinoff concept from Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman, on which HBO officially passed. Fire & Blood, a companion book Martin wrote to go along with his A Song of Ice and Fire novels, will provide a template for the new series. (Here are a few reasons we’re looking forward to the spinoff.)

Bloys also confirmed that House of the Dragon is still slated for a 2022 release.

While he wouldn’t directly address the tone or feel of the new series, “I will just say generally that everybody is aware that the original is a great show and did what it’s going to do, and you want to honor that,” the network exec added. “But you also want to tell different kinds of stories. So it will definitely be in the Game of Thrones universe but hopefully will feel like something that only Ryan and Miguel could do.”

Are you looking forward to House of the Dragon? Drop a note in the comments!

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