This spin-off project was in the wake of the end of Game of Thrones and HBO's desire to quickly develop projects around the world of George RR Martin's work.
$ 30 million in the trash
Entitled The Long Night, it was a prequel to Game of Thrones with Naomi Watts at the center of the pilot. We learn today that this pilot was indeed shot to be immediately abandoned. How is it possible to put $ 30 million in the trash? This is what recently explained James Andrew Miller, investigative journalist who has just released a book investigating the entertainment business in general and that of HBO in particular (Thinderbox) to the media Entertainment Weelky.
"Too many things to change"
Bob Greenblatt, president of Warner at the time, explained to the reporter: "When I saw a rough cut a few months after I arrived, I told Casey Bloys (HBO boss) that it was not working. just not and that I didn't think it meets what one would expect from a Game of Thrones prequel. And he didn't deny me, I even think he was relieved that I was of the same opinion. We just stopped everything, there was too much to change for it to become good one day â€.
No more pilot
!Just after the cancellation of the Game of Thrones prequel project with Naomi Watts, the HBO channel immediately officially confirmed the direct start of season 1 of House of Dragon, another prequel headed by George RR Martin and Ryan Condal (Rampage). But this time without running a pilot. There again, the ex-president of Warner specifies: “I am one of those who encouraged Casey to give the green light to the series without going through the pilot box. I said to him "Why risk 30 million on a pilot. You can't spend 30 million and not take the series afterwards. So let's not do a pilot, just do a series that we feel good with from the start, or don't. But no pilot! " ".
All's well that ends well since the series will exist without having gone through the test pilot box. House of the Dragon will land in 2022 on HBO. Its plot will take place 300 years before the events of the cult series and will focus on the origins of the Targaryen family whose members have a supernatural connection to the dragons.