HBO is in it for the long haul with House of the Dragon.
The Game of Thrones spinoff has been renewed for a second season, less than a week after its debut.
According to HBO, House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1 has now been seen by over 20 million viewers across linear, On Demand and HBO Max platforms in the U.S., “based on a combination of Nielsen data and first party data,” the press release states.
Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming said:
“We are beyond proud of what the entire HOUSE OF THE DRAGON team has accomplished with season one.”
“Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.”
“A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two.”
Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” tells the story of House Targaryen.
Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional cast includes Milly Alcock, and star.
Also starring is Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, and John Macmillan.
Rounding out the cast is Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, and Savannah Steyn.
The series was named the biggest HBO series premiere ever, with 10 million total viewers across linar and HBO Max platforms when it launched.
At the time, the premium cabler said that those numbers would be around 20-40% of the actual viewership because of people catching up post-airdate.
“It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night. House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response,” said Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO & HBO Max in a statement following the ratings news.
“We look forward to sharing with audiences what else George, Ryan, and Miguel have in store for them this season.”
The reaction to the series has been overwhelmingly positive.
New episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.