HBO Confirms Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon Will Be Released in 2022

It's only been a little over a year since the finale of Game of Thrones, which brought a close to a monumental and controversial run on television. Even with the series' main narrative being brought to a close, HBO has hinted that the world of the franchise isn't slowing down anytime soon, with multiple spinoff series being planned for the future. The first one to officially come to fruition is Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, a spinoff series that will draw inspiration from George R.R. Martin's novella Fire & Blood, and follow the rise of the Targaryen family. With the series' cast beginning to be announced, it looks like HBO is doubling down on the series' planned release date. In a new sizzle reel promoting the upcoming slate of programming on HBO and HBO Max - which you can check out below - HBO confirms that House of the Dragon will be released in 2022.

While that hypothetical release window has been suggested multiple times already, some have wondered if it would actually be attainable, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But with an ever-growing number of television shows and blockbusters resuming production with social distancing protocols in place, it definitely isn't impossible for the series to hit that 2022 date.

House of the Dragon will star Paddy Considine as Viserys Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower.

HBO ordered House of the Dragon straight to series for 10 episodes in October 2019. George R.R. Martin, Vince Gerardis, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik are executive producers, with Condal and Sapochnik also serving as showrunners.

"The Game of Thrones universe is so rich with stories," Bloys said at the time. "We look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros along with Miguel, Ryan [Condal], and George [R.R. Martin]."

The forward momentum on House of the Dragon comes as Game of Thrones fans have been eagerly anticipating the series' next book, which Martin promises he will try to not delay any further by directly writing on the spinoff series.

"I expect to be involved in [the production of House of the Dragon] to some extent… and, who knows, if things work out, I may even be able to script a few episodes, as I did for the first four seasons of Game Of Thrones," Martin wrote in a blog post in October of last year. "But… let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds Of Winter. Winter is still coming, and Winds remains my priority, as much as I'd love to write an [episode] of House."

Are you excited to see House of the Dragon? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, House of the Dragon is set to be released sometime in 2022 exclusively on HBO.