In a new interview, Miguel Sapochnik–the co-showrunner of the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon–says that the prequel fantasy series will have a “different tone” from the HBO series Game of Thrones. The Hollywood Reporter managed to get a few quotes from Sapochnik, who so far has been silent about the highly-anticipated show.
“It wasn’t broken, so we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said Sapochnik, who directs multiple episodes of House of the Dragon and directed several Game of Thrones episodes. “[The new show] has its own tone that will evolve and emerge over the course of the show… I’m not arriving going, ‘Let’s change everything!'”
While Sapochnik did not explicitly describe what this evolving tone feels like, or how it will be distinct from Game of Thrones, his comments do indicate that he and co-showrunner Ryan Condal (Rampage) are self-aware that fans won’t want just more of the same.
Set hundreds of years before Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon follows the drama involving the House Targaryen. “As King Viserys (Paddy Considine) reaches the end of his reign, a brutal battle for succession kicks off between his beloved daughter Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and his second wife Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who wants the throne for her sons,” reads a line from the show’s description. The show is coming to HBO Max in 2022 but a specific release date hasn’t been announced.
In other news, it was recently reported that HBO is developing two additional Game of Thrones animated shows, bringing the total to three. However, development doesn’t mean production, so there is no word on if any of them will actually go forward and be seen through to release.