'House of the Dragon' renewed for second season

Los Angeles: HBO has given a second season order for "House of the Dragon", the prequel series to the popular fantasy drama "Game of Thrones".

The show's early renewal follows its smash hit debut with the first episode, which dropped on August 21, and drew the largest audience for any new original series in HBO history, the American premium network said in a statement on Friday.

"The first episode has now been seen by 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," the company said.

"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.

Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, said the network is beyond proud of the show's first season.

"Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV. A huge thank you to George, Ryan, and Miguel for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two," she added.

"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.

Ryan Condal is attached as the showrunner and executive producer on the show along with Miguel Sapochnik, who helmed "Game of Thrones" episodes such as 'The Battle of Bastards' and 'The Winds of Winter'.

Condal and Martin are credited as co-creators and executive producers.