Game of Thrones Broadway Play Gets Major Update

George R.R. Martin has a major update about the Game of Thrones stage play. In a new update on his blog on Wednesday, Martin shared various updates from his recent trip to London and while he had brief updates about his meetings with his publishers and visits to the set of HBO's House of the Dragon, Martin also had a very promising update for the Game of Thrones play. The play, which was first announced back in 2021, had at one point been expected to debut in 2023, hasn't quite materialized just yet but according to Martin, things are looking good for a possible opening in late 2024.

"One of the. meetings I had in London was with Dominic [Cooke] and Duncan [MacMillan], the director and scriptwriter of our own stage play, the one we have been working on for the past few years," Martin wrote. "Originally, we were calling it HARRENHAL, but we have now settled on THE IRON THRONE as a title… until we think of something better. Regardless, things are coming well, I think, and we are hopeful of being able to open in late 2024. Maybe. But you never know. There's still a lot of work to be done."

What Do We Know About The Game of Thrones Play?

Announced in 2021, the Game of Thrones stage adaptation comes from Simon Painter and Tim Lawson in partnership with Kilburn Live. Martin is working on the play alongside award-winning playwright McMillan and director Cooke. The play is expected debut on Broadway in New York City, London's West End, and in Australia.

"The play will for the first time take audiences deeper behind the scenes of a landmark event that previously was shrouded in mystery. Featuring many of the most iconic and well-known characters from the series, the production will boast a story centered around love, vengeance, madness and the dangers of dealing in prophecy, in the process revealing secrets and lies that have only been hinted at until now."

"The seeds of war are often planted in times of peace," said Martin in a statement. "Few in Westeros knew the carnage to come when highborn and smallfolk alike gathered at Harrenhal to watch the finest knights of the realm compete in a great tourney, during the Year of the False Spring. It is a tourney oft referred during HBO's Game of Thrones, and in my novels, A Song of Ice & Fire … and now, at last, we can tell the whole story... on the stage."

Martin Also Teased Additional Seasons of House of The Dragon

In his post, Martin also shared some updates from his visit to the set of House of the Dragon, including talk of the third and fourth seasons of the series.

"It was not all tromping through sets, though," Martin added. "I also spent two days locked in a room with Ryan Condal and his writing staff (Sara Hess, Ti Mikkel, David Hancock, and Philippa Goslett) talking about the third and fourth seasons of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON. They were lively, fun discussions, and we got some good work done… though two days was not nearly enough.   There is so much ground to cover that I am not sure twenty days would have been enough." 

When Does House of the Dragon Return?

The second season of House of the Dragon is expected to debut on HBO in the summer of 2024. At the end of the first season, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) was supposed to become the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, having been appointed by her late father, King Viserys (Paddy Constantine). Unfortunately, things go awry when Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) crowns her son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) as the new king instead. The season ends with one of Alicent's sons killing one of Rhaenyra's sons, essentially igniting a war that is expected to bloom in the second season. While speaking about House of the Dragon Season 2, showrunner Ryan Condal addressed the work being done on the new episodes.

"I'm excited to pick up where we left off," Condal said (per Deadline). "Now we get to fall into the more traditional rhythms of storytelling and Game of Thrones. We've always talked about this particular tale, George [R.R. Martin] has too, of being a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. This series is very much about a house tearing itself apart from within. Now that all those pieces have been set on the board, I'm really excited to tell the next chapter, to see what happens now that Viserys is gone and no longer keeping a lid on things."