House of the Dragon breaks HBO viewing record
House of the Dragon, the long-awaited prequel to Game of Thrones, has not only got the critics enthused with rave reviews for the show, but has been met with overwhelming support and interest from the public with HBO’s viewing records being broken for a new premiere.
The new show, which stars amongst others Doctor Who and the Crown’s Matt Smith, pulled in just under 10 million viewers on HBO and HBO Max in the US on its opening day. And with the show premiering across the world on different channels and streaming services, it’s likely that the number of people watching House of the Dragon this week is much, much higher. For those in the UK, episode one of the series is available now on Sky and NOW.
“It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night,” said HBO and HBO Max’s content chief Casey Bloys (via TV LIne).
Adding: “House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response.
“We look forward to sharing with audiences what else George [RR Martin], Ryan [Condal], and Miguel [Sapochnik] have in store for them this season.”
House of the Dragon is set several hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of the last days of the Targaryen empire and what is known as the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that rages in Westeros. IT is understood the series will cover around thirty years of Westeros history.
The show stars alongside Matt Smith some big names including Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy and Rhys Ifans to name but a few.
The series is based on the 2018 novel Fire and Blood written by George RR Martin, the author who created the books on which the original Game of Thrones series was based.
A cultural phenomenon, Game of Thrones from HBO was one of the biggest and most talked-about fantasy TV series ever made. It ran from 2011 to 2019 on HBO (with viewers watching on Sky and NOW in the UK) and continues to be discovered and rewatched by armies of loyal fans. There was some debate over whether fans were fully satisfied with the ending of the original series, however, the interest in the prequel suggests this hasn’t in any way harmed the fortunes of the franchise going forward.
There are a number of other prequel and sequel ideas in development around the Game of Thrones universe and it is expected more could be announced or greenlit in the relatively near future.
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