HBO reveals Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon's premiere date

Winter is coming ... this summer.

HBO has finally revealed when the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will debut: August 21. That's less than two weeks before Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premieres on Sept. 2 — meaning the competing fantasy shows will be debuting new episodes at the same time.

Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is centered around members of House Targaryen, and its cast includes Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Steve Toussaint, and Rhys Ifans. It's based on George R.R. Martin's book about the history of the Targaryens, Fire & Blood.

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This will be the first of a number of Game of Thrones spinoff series HBO has in the works, and it comes after the network scrapped one of the planned spinoff shows in 2019 despite spending over $30 million on a pilot. Martin is a producer on House of the Dragon, and he said earlier this month that "what I have seen" from the show, "I have loved." He also provided an update on some of the other spinoffs.

"We are developing live action shows for HBO, and animated shows for HBO Max," Martin said. "No, can't tell you how many. But it is my hope that a number of these shows will get on the air. Not all, no, it is never all, but more than one. I certainly hope so. Some of the ideas we are working on are quite different in tone and approach than what has gone before, and that thrills me."

Amazon, meanwhile, hopes to create the next Game of Thrones with its Lord of the Rings prequel series, and the company reportedly spent $465 million on just the first season alone. Between HBO and Amazon, who will emerge with the one Thrones successor to rule them all?