The fantasy drama "House of the Dragon" will have eight episodes in its upcoming second season, two fewer than in its debut season.
The move is part of a long-term strategy for the show, according to the entertainment website Deadline, which also includes network HBO mulling renewing the "Game of Thrones" prequel spin-off for a third season.
Eight episodes will make up Season 2 according to an HBO official who confirmed the news to the publication. The spokesperson emphasised that the episode count reduction was driven by the stories.
The development comes as production is about to begin on the second season in the UK for an expected premiere in the summer of 2024.
HBO green-lit season two soon after "House of the Dragon" premiered on August 21, 2022, as it drew the largest audience for any new original series in the history of the premium broadcaster — "over 20 million viewers across linear, on-demand and HBO Max platforms in the US, based on a combination of Nielsen data and first-party data".
"House of the Dragon" is based on George R R Martin's book "Fire & Blood", a history of House Targaryen set 200 years before the events described in "Game of Thrones", which ended its eight-season run in 2019.
When HBO announced the renewal of season two last summer, they did not specify the episode order, which is a very standard approach. When the original 10-episode run for the second chapter was altered, the script had to be revised.
Potential season three is being prepared and might go ahead, with HBO considering committing to moving ahead with scripts, casting and a production plan.
According to insiders, a significant battle that was initially planned for season two has been moved to season three. According to several sources, "House of the Dragon" is now more likely to last for four seasons, however, this has not been confirmed.
"House of the Dragon" features an ensemble cast of Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans.
"Game of Thrones" veteran Miguel Sapochnik was the showrunner on season one of "House of the Dragons" along with co-creator Ryan Condal. For the second season, Condal will now serve as solo showrunner with Sapochnik continuing as an executive producer on the series.
Alan Taylor, another "Game of Thrones" veteran, will also join as a director and executive producer on the second season of the show.
The series is currently available to watch on Disney+Hotstar but only till March 31. The OTT platform tweeted, “Starting March 31, HBO content will be unavailable on Disney+ Hotstar. You can continue enjoying Disney+Hotstar's vast library of content spanning over 100,000 hours of TV shows and movies in 10 languages and coverage of major global sporting events.”
In August last year, Warner Bros Discovery confirmed that it has put the launch of HBO Max in India on hold as the company is currently focusing on expanding its user base in the existing markets.
(With PTI Inputs)
