It took us a few years to come back with a sequel, but we really enjoyed the process and now we're convinced we have the next thing," announced Casey Blois, president of content at HBO, at the world premiere of "House of the Dragon," the first spinoff of "Game of Thrones." ", the first episode of which will be broadcast on August 21. "At our channel, we love complicated families that have trouble getting along.
We had 'The Sopranos', members of the Fisher family in 'Deep Down' and more recently the Roy family in 'The Heirs'.
In the coming weeks you will all be exposed to the history of the Targaryen family, which may be the most complicated of them all, certainly when it has 17 dragons."
After more than three years of anticipation, "Game of Thrones" returned to our lives with "House of the Dragon", and all eyes are on the new chapter in the history of the pop culture phenomenon, which made history in the previous decade.
Throughout its eight seasons, "Game of Thrones" garnered 59 Emmy Awards out of 160 nominations - an unprecedented achievement for a feature series in the entire history of the American Television Academy ceremony, brought record viewing figures to HBO (and immediately after the series went off the air, the network admitted that it had lost hundreds of thousands of subscribers; d) S), who went on to say from season to season up to almost 33 million viewers on average, and writing standards for a television work at the level and budget of cinema, which proved itself. Therefore, it was only a matter of time until a sequel series claiming the crown arrived.
Matt Smith at the premiere,
The confident Blois also did not hesitate to say that "If someone wants to bet in advance about the chances of a second season, I think it's a pretty safe bet. In general, we prefer to let any series go on the air and see how the broadcasts go before we make decisions, but obviously we have to prepare time "Rav beforehand to ensure the project continues, so we're making sure we don't miss out on valuable momentum. All our efforts have been invested first and foremost in this daughter series, and so far I've been excited by everything I've seen."
The race to find a sequel to "Game of Thrones" was launched six years ago, when it was announced that the hit series would come to an end at the end of the eighth season, which was finally broadcast in the spring of 2019. No fewer than five potential projects came up in the initial discussions, and even before the final season aired, the green light was given to a first daughter series Tentatively titled "Blood Moon" starring Naomi Watts.
A test episode was filmed in Northern Ireland at a whopping cost of 35 million dollars, but in the end the channel captains decided to abandon the idea on the grounds that "although it was produced and filmed at a high level, the pilot failed to reach the depths of the original series".
Since then it has been announced that there are three other ideas being considered, and two months ago it was officially announced that a new idea for a daughter series around the character of Jon Snow, one of the popular heroes from "Game of Thrones", is in preliminary development, and that the person who will lead the series is none other than Kit Harington, who played the character in the original.
This is evidence of how much greater the whole is than the sum of its parts, since none of the "Game of Thrones" stars has so far been able to break out independently.
Harington, for example, played in Marvel Comics' Eternals, and Emilia Clarke, aka Daenerys Targaryen's Khaleesi, tried her luck alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator: Genisys and Solo: A Star Wars Story, which all failed. at the box office and butchered in reviews.
Unlike the failed pilot with Naomi Watts, in the Jon Snow project, George R.
R.
Martin, author of the "Song of Fire and Ice" series of books on which "Game of Thrones" is based, and is also a co-creator of "Dragon House".
This is a clear proof of how critical his presence is to the continuation of the television success of the brand he created.
"I am very pleased"
The life of the 73-year-old Martin has changed wonderfully in the past decade thanks to the tremendous success of "Game of Thrones".
According to estimates, he has so far earned no less than 200 million dollars from the sale of the rights to his works, and of course the hand is still tipped as long as there is a potential for expanding the corporation on the screen.
At the same time, about 100 million copies of his books were sold and they were translated into 50 languages.
He himself enjoys the exposure and regularly attends fantasy conventions around the world and special events with fans as if he were a rockstar.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
From the trailer, photo: HBO
Martin was absent from the celebratory premiere in Los Angeles last week as well, because he was infected with Corona a few days earlier at Comic-Con 2022, the world's largest entertainment convention for fans of comics, fantasy and science fiction that has been held every summer for five decades in San Diego.
At the same time, he managed to win handily on the intriguing panel to promote the rise of "Dragon House" with the participation of the creators and actors.
"It's very exciting, but there are concerns when starting a new path. These characters are like my children, and when you hand them over to someone else, you wonder, how will they behave? Will you even recognize them when you see them again? I was very lucky that they did a very good job with the adaptations of The books so far," Martin said from the stage of Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center, wearing a black shirt, phosphorescent green leotards and the casket hat that, along with the white beard, has become his trademark.
"The cast is amazing, even though I haven't had the chance to get to know them until now because of the filming restrictions in Corona. It wasn't possible for me to come to the set and spend time with them as I used to do in the past. But I watched nine of the ten episodes of the first season and I'm very satisfied."
Martin also has one dream from the "Game of Thrones" days, which he may finally be able to fulfill in the new round: a guest appearance.
"Since the outbreak of the corona virus, I hardly leave the house, I am very careful about the virus, what's more, I have to finish a new book and this comes before visiting the sets. But if 'Dragon House' continues, who knows, maybe I will appear," he says with a smile, "I shot a guest appearance in the pilot episode of Game of Thrones, but since most of it was reshot I was left on the editing room floor. At one point I was supposed to appear as a severed head. In the scene where Joffrey forces Sansa to look at all the severed heads hanging on the wall, I was supposed to be one of them. But as soon as they They found out how expensive it was to make heads especially they just bought props of pre-made heads, one of which was former President George W. Bush's, which got us into quite a bit of trouble and made headlines. In fact, I'm pretty sure they edited his head out digitally in retrospect. Maybe only those who have old DVD copies of the series can still find it."
"The characters are like my children."
George R.
R.
Martin, photo: EPA
The one who picked up the gauntlet to team up with Martin for the development of "Dragon House" is the screenwriter Ryan Jay.
Condell, who penned the scripts for the disaster films "Hercules" and "Savage," both starring blockbuster star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"I was a bit of a stalker. Nine years ago I shot my first television pilot, which didn't work out, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the only thing I knew about the town was that George lived there," Condell recalled.
"I asked my agents to try to arrange a dinner at my expense, just to talk to him, and he agreed and sat in a restaurant with me while I sweated with excitement and gushed to him how much his works had influenced me. Then he visited the set of the pilot, and everyone was excited and asked, 'How do you know him?' '
We stayed in touch and used to meet when he would come to LA to pick up some more of my mother's figurines. One time when he invited me to a beer, he offered me a job, and here we are four years later. It's crazy."
Martin latched onto Condell's ideas and put him on HBO's radar long before established TV creators, who were racking their brains for ideas for the day after "Game of Thrones."
Last year, Martin signed a five-year contract with HBO worth an estimated $50 million, and still he continues to be humble and say that, ultimately, his works are rooted in the real world.
"My books are indeed fantasy stories, but I am a lover of history, I draw inspiration from it, I take the elements and enhance them," he explained in the panel, "Many of my readers have noticed in the past that 'Game of Thrones' is based on the War of the Roses (the struggle for control between the aristocratic dynasties in England of the middle of the 15th century, which were even documented in Shakespeare's plays; D.C.), and the new series is based on an ancient period known as 'the anarchy' (civil war in England in the mid-12th century, which manifested itself in governmental instability; D.C.). I steal freely from real history.
"When the only son of King Henry I of England drowned while trying to cross the English Channel, only his daughter Matilda was left, and he chose her to be the heir to the throne and forced all the lords of the kingdom to swear allegiance to her. After he died, those lords denied that oath, and suddenly there appeared Her cousin Stephen usurped the throne and made himself king.
"That's how the period of anarchy around his fight with Matilda actually began for two decades. That's where the inspiration came from, and I don't think there's any more discrimination against women or misogyny in Westeros than in reality or history as we know it. The best thing about history is that there's a lot of it. We focus this time In House Targaryen, but my book begins with Aegon's conquest of the seven kingdoms of Westeros, four generations back. And it's possible to go back in time to the days of Valyria, who knows? Maybe if I get to live to be 140 and not just 73, I'll have time to write more."
An unprecedented investment
"House of the Dragon", which was filmed throughout 2021 in locations such as England, Spain and Portugal with a budget estimated at 200 million dollars, was written based on Martin's book "Fire and Blood" and unfolds the events of the Targaryen dynasty, Daenerys' ancestors, 176 years before she was born .
Having himself ascended to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms in an unorthodox way, King Viserys (Paddy Considine, "Cinderella Man," "The Stranger") longs for a male son who will one day inherit the throne, even though he has an eldest daughter, Rhaenyra, a skilled dragon rider, Which is played by the British actress Emma D'Arcy in her first significant role.
The young version of Rhainira as a girl is played by the Australian Millie Alcock.
The struggle for the Iron Throne is the starting point for the family tangle in the royal court of Viserys.
Another claimant to the crown is his younger brother, Prince Damon Targaryen, a famously bloodthirsty warrior and womanizer, played by Matt Smith, who played the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who and Prince Philip on Netflix's The Crown, a role for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 2018.
The Iron Throne is also eyed by the king's right-hand man, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifens, "Notting Hill"), assisted by his young daughter Alicent (Olivia Cooke, "Bates Motel"), and Lord Corliss and Valarion (Steve Toussaint, "The Sin") known as "Snake The Sea", who is married to Viserys' cousin, Rahanis, whose father King Jaharis passed over her in the chain of succession and she holds a grudge about it.
"I think that one of the most important elements for a king or queen is to understand that this is a mission and not a privilege that they deserve. That they must lead in a just and peaceful way," explains Martin, "from time to time there are also boring tasks such as paving additional access roads, sanitation problems in the kingdom, and the like. But no one Wasn't interested in a spin-off about King Jaharis' road construction department. Although if you're a Westeros resident, maybe a king who deals with infrastructure rather than wars is better. Viserys is definitely a peacemaker. He doesn't aspire to such battle glory, but simply to be a good and wise king and protect His people."
"I found myself very possessive when I sat on the Iron Throne, I didn't want anyone to sit on it on the set," says humorously Considine, who plays King Viserys, "What's more, it's very uncomfortable to sit on. I couldn't use a pillow and I suffered quite a lot. In the end This thing is a throne made of swords, it can't be a comfortable sitting experience. But Viserys is a kind man, and I think he was chosen to be king because he was a good student and had a pleasant and kind disposition. When I read the script I wanted to emphasize his humanity. He cares about all kinds of things Around him, he carries tragedy with him, loves his family and also hides secrets that will be revealed later on and may endanger his brother's status. There are many matters that happen in the series at the same time."
According to Emma D'Arcy, Rhaenyra (who quickly emerges as a leading heroine who will become a favorite of the viewers) is a Targaryen to all intents and purposes, "Her journey is to understand when to let the fire burn and when to let it go. I personally felt inside the role from the moment the wig was placed on my head. One of the questions that the series will try to answer is why a woman who wants to lead has to convince men that she is equal among equals, and I still don't know what the answer is."
Matt Smith, who plays Damon, Rhaenyra's adoring aunt, also commented on the Targaryen's signature curly hairstyle at the panel, joking that "If I were king I would let everyone dye their hair, because it takes an hour and a half each time to readjust the wig. It looks great But it's a headache."
Ryan G.
Kundal, the screenwriter,
"Evil definitely exists"
Olivia Cooke, who has already had time to star in films such as Steven Spielberg's "Number One Actor" and "This Life" by the creator of the hit series "Life Itself" Dan Fogelman, shared in the panel that it feels strange to be on the eve of such a talked about series airing.
"We are coming in the wake of a phenomenon of enormous dimensions, and we have pressure to provide the goods for you, the viewers, and still make sure that the new series will be different from the previous one and that we will be able to make our own mark," said Cook, "We are grateful in advance for everything that will benefit us, and I hope that What we have in hand will have such a legacy. We tore ourselves apart for a year, and the creators even more so, and I just hope they like the series."
Kundal, for his part, mentions the secret weapon.
"We have 17 dragons and we made an effort to differentiate them, not only in appearance but also in their behavior and character, how each dragon is related to the one who rides it," he explains, "a year before filming we already worked with graphic artists. Of course, George meticulously detailed the color in the books , the size and age of each of them. We even designed some dragons that you won't see yet in the first season because we had so much fun working with the designers in the CG department. As you could already tell from the trailer, there's a lot more in store and I think you're going to love it."
The series is fundamentally based on new struggles, but according to Martin, there are no clear heroes or villains.
"It all depends on how you define these terms, there is no one in particular who is called the evil lord or monsters of any kind, but evil definitely exists," he says, "I always believe that the most successful characters have a fascinating character, just like people I got to meet or characters I read their stories. They know how to be generous, loving and good, but after a week they suddenly do something selfish and terrible out of a place of pride, and we suddenly feel ashamed of them. That's where it's at for me, and I'll quote the poet William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize winning speech: 'The only thing interesting to write On it is the human heart that is in conflict with itself'. This is also my mantra. All the characters in the new series have good and evil in them, the point is in the choice they make. The readers of 'Ash and Dam' are divided among themselves as to the identity of the heroes and villains, and I am convinced that the same will be the case with viewers the series
"In general, the real challenge in an adaptation of Spray is always the tendency to simplify things. There is a feeling that there are too many characters and events. When 'Game of Thrones' came on the air, the TV critics wrote that it was difficult to follow all the characters, and here still the viewers learned how to follow everything. I I would never want to underestimate the intelligence of viewers or readers. Everything is doable, and there is no need to filter plots or heroes. The audience is much more sophisticated than people who produce TV series think."
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