George R.R. Martin, the author whose book A Song of Ice and Fire inspired the epic HBO fantasy series, announced Thursday that filming for the upcoming prequel, House of the Dragon, has officially wrapped, People reports.
Martin, 73, also expressed his approval after watching several episodes from the forthcoming first season of House of the Dragon.
“Exciting news out of London I am informed that shooting has WRAPPED for the first season,” he wrote in a blog post. “Yes, all ten episodes. I have seen rough cuts of a few of them, and I’m loving them.”
He continued, “Of course, a lot more work needs to be done. Special effects, colour timing, score, all the post-production work. But the writing, the directing, the acting all look terrific. I hope you will like them as much as I do.”
Although filming for the spinoff series House of the Dragon, based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood, has concluded for its first season, the author has not been able to disclose the release date for the highly anticipated series.
“So when will you see it, you ask?” he added. “When will the dragons dance? I wish I could tell you. Lots of work remains to be done, as I said, and covid makes planning difficult. This spring? Unlikely. Maybe summer? Could be. Fall? Who knows? You’ll know when we do.”
House of the Dragon follows the Targaryen civil war, which took place about 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
The show will feature King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), his brother Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), his daughter Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), and Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) also known as the Sea Snake.
The world became obsessed with Martin’s fantasy saga when HBO aired its TV adaptation of Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2019. The prequel, consisting of 10 episodes, also includes parallels to the original, including an incestuous relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra.
In December, Martin said that he was “chuffed” to find out House of Dragon has been named “the most anticipated show” of 2022 by IMDb.
“That’s a hell of a list to be at the top of, too. Amazon’s new Tolkien series? Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN? Marvel shows? STAR WARS shows?” he wrote. “Good company.”
The author told fans to “anticipate away” ahead of the premiere, teasing, “I do not think you will be disappointed.”
“Ryan and Miguel have done an amazing job,” Martin added of the show’s executive producers, Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. “And the cast… just as with GAME OF THRONES, most viewers will only have heard of a few of the actors, but I think you are going to fall in love with a lot of them. (Only to have your heart broken later when… but no, that would be telling). I think the Targaryens are in very good hands.”