HBO announces Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon after cancelling Naomi Watts series
The news comes amid reports that HBO's other Game of Thrones prequel, starring Oscar winner Naomi Watts, has been scrapped
For fans still reeling from the news that the Game of Thrones prequel starring Naomi Watts has reportedly been scrapped — fear not. HBO has announced another prequel to its Emmy-winning fantasy series, this time set 300 years earlier than the original.
House of the Dragon will focus on the House of Targaryen (whose descendant Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, was one of the primary characters in the TV show and the Song of Ice ad Fire novel series by George RR Martin). The news was announced on HBO's official Game of Thrones Twitter page, but it's not yet known if casting has begun.
"It's my pleasure to announce today that we are ordering House of the Dragon straight to series for HBO," said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming. "It tells the story of House Targaryen and the early days of Westeros."
The other, unnamed prequel had been set to star Oscar winner Watts and was set thousands of years before the events of the original series. It was reported earlier this week that the cast had been emailed with the news that the show had been cancelled by HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
John Simm (Life on Mars, Doctor Who), Miranda Richardson, Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), The Chronicles of Narnia’s Georgie Henley and Fantastic Beasts’ Toby Regbo were all set to star in the show. Campbell Bower, who played a young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, tweeted as the news was breaking, but most cast members have yet to comment on the reports.
