Why HBO Started Shooting House Of The Dragon Without Testing It With A Pilot First

HBO took a gamble on "House of the Dragon," and it worked out. The prestige cable network decided to begin filming the "Game of Thrones" spin-off series without testing it with a pilot first, a move that raised eyebrows not only because it was unusual, but a previously abandoned GoT spin-off "Bloodmoon" buried its own $30 million pilot. But former WarnerMedia chairman Robert Greenblatt says that he pushed to move quickly because of HBO Max's looming launch window, a sentiment that HBO's executive vice president Francesca Orsi agreed with.

In a discussion with The Hollywood Reporter about reopening the book on Westeros after "Game of Thrones" concluded, the duo explained that "House of the Dragon" was a big priority for them as the streaming landscape grew larger in 2019. "I put a lot of pressure on everybody for this to happen as soon as humanly possible," Greenblatt admitted.

"We all knew Disney+ launched with 'The Mandalorian.' We didn't have any big piece of IP that would be ready, but at least we'd have 'Dragon' coming down the pipe and that would be important to the world at large," Greenblatt said. "And I couldn't think of a better piece of IP almost anywhere that deserved to be developed and multiplied."

With the plan in place to dive back into the world of Westeros, HBO recruited Ryan Condal, a "'Game of Thrones' superfan" screenwriter, and teamed him with showrunner Miguel Sapochnik on "House of the Dragon." With the wind at their backs and with franchise creator George R.R. Martin's full support, HBO decided to set sail on the ambitious prequel series without a pilot because time was of the essence.

"I don't think there was much confidence internally [that 'Thrones' was a franchise] because the show was so big and so seminal," Francesca Orsi shared. "We saw it as an opportunity to keep telling great stories, but not necessarily to try and replace 'Game of Thrones' as the most epic show in history."  THR's reporting on the beginnings of "House of the Dragon" points out that the first episode was sent directly to Martin for his read on what they've done. The results only emboldened the creatives behind the camera.

"George is not an effusive guy," Condal recalled. "But he loved the pilot so much that Miguel and I both got text messages with more exclamation points than I've ever seen in one place from that man." While Martin has since cooled on "House of the Dragon," it's nevertheless confirmed to be developing its fourth season.