House of the Dragon premiered last year to positive reviews and massive viewership numbers, but the wait for season 2 is shaping up to be a long one.
Talking to Variety, HBO and HBO Max content CEO Casey Bloys reiterated that 2024 "is a good guess" when it comes to the show's return, but refused to get too specific. He did, however, note that the Game of Thrones spin-off is unlikely to be eligible for the 2024 Emmy season (its eligibility period ends on May 31, 2024), so we'd bet on a Summer/Fall 2024 debut.
We've heard a lot about various other spin-offs in recent years, of course, including one starring Naomi Watts that was cancelled after the pilot episode was shot.
So, why are none of these filling the gap until House of the Dragon returns?
"My philosophy is a good script is number one priority," Bloys says. "I am not doing it based on wanting to have one a year, two a year. I want to do it based on the scripts that we’re excited about."
"Remember, to get ‘House of the Dragon’ following up from ‘Game of Thrones,’ we developed a lot of shows, shot a pilot, developed a bunch of scripts and we got ‘House of the Dragon. To do that again is going to take the same amount of effort. You have to develop a lot of things, try things. You never know what’s going to work. So we’re currently doing that."
"I’m not opposed to any number of shows," he continued. "There’s probably a natural limit to how many fans want, but I’m open to any as long as we feel really good about the scripts and the prospects for a series. It takes a while to get one that hits the mark. I know George [R.R. Martin] feels the same way. You want to do one that everybody’s really proud of and excited about."
A TV series revolving around Jon Snow with a returning Kit Harington is thought to be among the projects likely to happen, but HBO is clearly in no rush and doesn't want to risk tarnishing the brand with a subpar effort.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bloys would confirm the rumoured Six Feet Under revival has been scrapped, and while a True Blood revival was considered, it too is no longer happening. On a brighter note, Bong Joon-ho's small screen take on Parasite is still being developed, albeit slowly.
Stay tuned for updates on House of the Dragon.