House Of The Dragon Is A Huge Success: It's HBO's Biggest Premiere
The House Of The Dragon is expected to be a huge success if we look at the public reaction after the first episode was aired. It has become HBO's biggest premiere.
The first episode of the new series in the Game of Thrones universe has been so popular that it has become the biggest premiere in the company's history.
9.986 million viewers watched the first episode of House of the Dragon in the United States when it debuted on HBO and HBO Max, making it automatically the biggest premiere in network history, News reported.
According to HBO, the series airing on the day and time House of the Dragon debuted normally had only 20%-40% of its audience.
House of the Dragon is off to a higher-rated debut than Game of Thrones, but, however, it's still far from its peak - over 19 million viewers for the final episode.
The House Of The Dragon Is Expected To Be A Huge Success
The approach of the new series has also brought with it increased numbers for Game of Thrones in recent weeks. Now available in 4K, Game of Thrones had 90% more viewers in August than in July.
The premiere of the new series was not without problems. Some subscribers, especially those using Fire TV streaming devices, were unable to watch the first episode under normal conditions.
From September, House of the Dragon will have competition in its niche. Amazon Prime Video will launch Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on September 2.
The Story Behind The House of the Dragon
The gripping story, based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood", is set 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones" and takes us into the extraordinary world of Westeros, exploring the history of House Targaryen.
Rivalries, jealousy, lust, power struggles, and betrayals will tear the family apart and threaten to destroy a dynasty that has ruled with absolute power for a century.
Ryan J. Condal, co-creator of the series, describes House of the Dragon as a "complex, Shakespearean family drama" and added that Game of Thrones was a story about multiple families warring over ideas like justice and decency. There was murder and betrayal and all of those things exist here, but this story is about the dissolution of a single family, and that family happens to be the strongest in the history of Westeros.
Miguel Sapochnik, co-creator of the show, who also directed several episodes of the first season, points out that the story starts with the Targaryens in a safe and confident zone, because they have the dragons - they have the weapons of mass destruction - and as long as they have them, it's hard to imagine anyone challenging their power. They know this, but that arrogance could lead to their decline.
The House of the Dragon Team
Paddy Considine (The Third Day and The Outsider), Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown), Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses, Ready Player One), Emma D'Arcy (Truth Seekers, Wanderlust), Steve Toussaint (It's A Sin, Doctor Who), Eve Best (Nurse Jackie, The King's Speech), Sonoya Mizuno (Devs, La La Land), Fabien Frankel (Last Christmas, The Serpent) and Rhys Ifans (Berlin Station, The King's Man) make up the main cast.
Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes and Savanhah Steyn making up the supporting cast.
George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal are co-creators of the 10-episode first season. Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal are the showrunners and executive producers alongside George R. R. Martin, Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis, and Ron Schmidt.
Miguel Sapochnik, Clare Kilner, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Greg Yaitanes are the episode directors. Composer Ramin Djawadi (who has worked on HBO productions Game of Thrones and Westworld) is scoring the series.
Filmed in the UK, Spain, and Portugal, this epic production had two crews of over 2000 people working simultaneously in the harsh conditions of the pandemic until February 2022. The long-awaited story of the conflicts that grind House Targaryen can be watched from August 22 on HBO Max, one episode out of ten every week.
HBO Max has launched the official augmented reality app House of the Dragon: DracARys in 20 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK, US, and Portugal), available in Apple and Google Play.
Developed in conjunction with The Mill's technical, art and strategy team, using the Unity game engine, Niantic Lightship technology, and sound design by London-based studio Factory, the app gives fans around the world the opportunity to grow virtual dragons in their own homes.
Each dragon will be unique to its user and will go through different stages of development, revealing more details about the fascinating world of these creatures from George R.R. Martin's universe along the way. Users can learn Valyrian words to train their dragons through a special voice recognition system. Once fully grown, dragons will gain the ability to travel the world.
