Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon sets viewership record for HBO
Game of Thrones' first prequel is bringing the house down on HBO.
House of the Dragon, a spinoff of Game of Thrones set about 200 years before the original series, brought in an impressive 9.9 million viewers for its premiere episode on Sunday night, HBO says.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon follows members of House Targaryen, ancestors of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), and their civil war over dueling succession claims. It retains much of the iconic imagery that defined the original fantasy series and even its memorable theme, but with some notable differences, including the fact that it's more focused on a single central storyline. No actors from Game of Thrones return.
HBO's hope has been for House of the Dragon to be the first of numerous Thrones spinoffs, giving the network a reliable, ongoing franchise akin to Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+. But there had been some debate about whether viewers would flock back to Westeros, given the ending of Thrones left many fans unsatisfied in 2019.
Clearly, that wasn't an issue, and it helps that the fan response to House of the Dragon has thus far been significantly more positive than Thrones' final season. If these numbers hold, HBO's plans to dramatically expand the Thrones franchise will likely continue full steam ahead. And after the ending of Thrones sparked years of questions about what the "next Game of Thrones" level watercool series might be, it appears we have our answer.
-
7 bars with comforting cocktails and great hospitalitythe week recommends Winter is a fine time for going out and drinking up
-
7 recipes that meet you wherever you are during winterthe week recommends Low-key January and decadent holiday eating are all accounted for
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
