'Game of Thrones' Prequel 'House of the Dragon' on HBO August 21

House of the Dragon on HBO
(Image credit: HBO)

House of the Dragon, based on the George R.R. Martin book Fire & Blood and set 200 years before Game of Thrones, will premiere on HBO August 21. The series tells the story of House Targaryen.

There are 10 episodes.

Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizun and Rhys Ifans are in the cast.

Considine plays King Viserys Targaryen. “A warm, kind and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather's legacy,” said HBO. “But good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”

Martin created the show with Ryan Condal. They executive produce with Miguel Sapochnik, Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis and Ron Schmidt. Condal is co-showrunner with Sapochnik.  

Game of Thrones ran for eight seasons on HBO before its finale in 2019. ■

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.