House of the Dragon S02: Condal Staying Put as HBO Goes Disney Route

Earlier this week, we reported that HBO & showrunner Ryan Condal‘s House of the Dragon would continue with production, even as the WGA (Writers Guild of America)/AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) strike reaches its fifth day in the U.S. Now, in light of Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO/HBO Max requiring all showrunners & writer-producers to report to work to perform non-writing duties (though the WGA is pushing back on how studios like Disney and others are now defining those), we’re learning that Condal will be on set during the UK production. While representatives for HBO did not comment at the time of the Variety report, sources say that Condal won’t be writing, editing, or offering notes.

HBO’s House of the Dragon Season 2 stars Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham. Joining the cast for the second season are Simon Russell Beale, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin & Abubakar Salim. Based on author & executive producer George R.R. Martin‘s “Fire & Blood,” the prequel series is also executive produced by Condal, Sara Hess, Alan Taylor, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Loni Peristere, and Vince Gerardis.

House of the Dragon Season 2: Fewer Episodes, Season 3?

Deadline Hollywood reported exclusively last month that the second season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel series would consist of eight episodes and not ten, unlike the first season. The reason? The report continued that the move was part of a “bigger picture” plan for the series that included HBO considering a third-season pick-up. Regarding the decrease in episodes, initial thoughts were that the move was a result of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cost-cutting measure, but sources close to the production say that the move was for the sake of the story. With HOTD’s creative team setting a 3-4 season course for the series, Condal reportedly worked with author/executive producer George R.R. Martin to establish a better overall sense of how the storylines should line up regarding which seasons they would take place, the battles that would be included, and more. As a result, Season 3 has reportedly been mapped out (with some plotlines & a major battle from Season 2 shifted to the third season), with HBO considering an early greenlight to get a head start on scripts, casting, and overall production plans.