Game of Thrones and HBO’s “civil war”: how House of the Dragon was born

Few people know that before House of the Dragon existed as an idea, HBO went through some tough times, finding it hard to establish a clear line to the future.

Soon after Game of Throne ended in 2019, after eight years of absolute success, HBO seemed eager to find the next fantasy drama that could continue the tradition.

Truth be told, the giant had never considered spin-off series, but according to a new report, it was willing to take the risk to create a movie franchise that could rival Marvel or Star Wars.

HBO has made up its mind: the long road to House of the Dragon

The road to creating the series we now know as House of the Dragon wasn’t easy. After a number of ideas were put on the table, HBO narrowed it down to five. “We wanted to give ourselves every chance of success,” Casey Bloys, HBO’s director of content, told THR. “You don’t want to say, ‘We’re going to replace the greatest show of all time and it’s all going to be based on one script,'” he continued.

All five concepts were prequels set before the events of Game of Thrones.

These included Bloodmoon and The Dance of the Dragons. The latter was the story that George R.R. Martin himself had pitched to HBO. Bloodmoon was HBO’s first attempt to remake the success of Game of Thrones. “It would take place years before the events of Game of Thrones,” it was said.

Naturally, the idea failed, and that was after $30 million was spent on the pilot episode, which ultimately wasn’t deemed good enough and “dungeoned” HBO.

Later, Dance of the Dragons became House of the Dragon, which it remained. The series will be available to watch beginning August 21 on HBO.