House of the Dragon Is HBO’s Only Game of Thrones Spinoff in Active Development

HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys recently shed a bit of light on the status of the various Game of Thrones spinoffs, and while many are promising, as of now only the upcoming prequel House of the Dragon is in a state of active development.

While speaking to THR, Bloys responded to a question about spinoffs such as 10,000 Ships, Dunk and Egg and 9 Voyages. “Right now, there’s one Game of Thrones series, which is House of the Dragon,” said Bloys. “Nothing else has been greenlit. There’s various other projects in development but nothing else is greenlit and right now we’re focused on House of the Dragon. I don’t believe we’ve passed on any others.”

With the conclusion of Games of Thrones, HBO announced that four spinoffs based on George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy world were in the early works, before eventually announcing a fifth and sixth. This was an unusual move, as the shows were not yet titled or identified, and it was understood that none were guaranteed to go ahead. Typically, networks will wait for more of a sure thing before announcing a new series, but HBO has the rights to all of Martin’s extensive source material and could make the general promise that more stories from Westeros and Essos are on the way.

House of the Dragon, set 200 years before Game of Thrones and depicting a brutal Targaryen civil war, was the first series to be picked up for full production. A second spinoff, starring Naomi Watts and focusing on the origin of the White Walkers, was greenlit for a reported $30 million pilot episode, but then canceled by HBO. That HBO is willing to walk away from such a large investment demonstrates the high standards to which the spinoffs are being held.

Despite this high bar and only one show being in active production, the remaining series still have potential. “It’s just like any development process,” said Bloys in a separate interview with Deadline. “Some are looking really good. Some we’ll see. We’re not going to make everything. I don’t have any mandate that I must make a certain amount of spin offs or prequels or anything like that. We’re really doing it just based on what we’re excited about creatively.”

While HBO is focusing on House of the Dragon, for now, Bloys’s comments indicate that the network will embrace any series that lives up to the Game of Thrones name. With the sheer breadth of possible stories Martin seeded into the history of his massive world and the investments HBO is willing to throw at the franchise, fans hoping to see Nymeria of Ny Sar or Duncan the Tall onscreen can take heart.

The 10-episode first season of House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.