House of the Dragon Gets Major Shake-Up For Season 2

Game of Thrones officially became a franchise with the House of Dragon prequel series on HBO. The past couple of weeks brought great acclaim, and ratings, and even have a season two in the works as well. Sadly, there’s some bad news.

The Hollywood Reporter reported that co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik is departing the just launched series. Sapochnik has a history with Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and the director decided to step away and onto other projects.

Co-creator Ryan Condal will now be the sole showrunner for the series and will continue to work with author and co-creator George R.R. Martin on the series. Alan Taylor, another veteran of the world of Game of Thrones as a director in the past, has been hired to serve as director for multiple episodes of the second season of the show, and executive producer as well.

Sapochnik isn’t departing HBO despite stepping down from the series. Apparently, he has a first-look deal with the company to develop new projects, along with being an executive producer for House of the Dragon.

“Working within the Thrones universe for the past few years has been an honor and a privilege, especially spending the last two with the amazing cast and crew of House of the Dragon,” Sapochnik said in a statement. “I am so proud of what we accomplished with season 1 and overjoyed by the enthusiastic reaction of our viewers. It was incredibly tough to decide to move on, but I know that it is the right choice for me, personally and professionally. As I do so, though, I am deeply comforted to know that Alan will be joining the series. He’s someone I’ve known and respected for a long time, and I believe this precious series could not be in safer hands. I am so glad to remain a part of the HBO and House of the Dragon family and, of course, I wish Ryan and his team success and all the best with season 2 and beyond.”

The news comes after the series was renewed for a second season following its record-breaking debut. Two days after the series debut of House of the Dragon, HBO announced that the show gave HBO its largest series launch of all time, with 9.986 million viewers across linear and HBO Max platforms last U.S. Sunday night. 

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