Season two of the Game Of Thrones prequel spin-off House of the Dragon is a real hit.
The new episodes of the HBO Max series, which premiered on June 16, not only received rave reviews, but also surpassed the official streaming ratings of previous series.
House Of The Dragon, created by George RR Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO, was streamed for a whopping 1.23 billion minutes in the week of its second season premiere, a huge increase from the first season’s record of 1.02 billion minutes.
That represents a 210 million-minute jump between the highs of seasons one and two, according to Nielsen data obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
These new figures put House Of The Dragon in fourth place among the most-watched series of the week, after Bridgerton (2.47 billion minutes), Your Honor (1.95 billion minutes) and The Boys (1.29 billion minutes).
The Game Of Thrones prequel series House Of The Dragon reached a record high in streaming numbers for season two, which premiered on HBO on June 16; stars Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy appear in a scene from the hit series
The season two premiere was streamed a total of 1.23 billion minutes in its premiere week, a huge jump from the first season’s peak of 1.02 billion minutes.
The series premiere was watched by more than 10 million viewers on its first day across linear channels and HBO Max, the most in HBO history.
The show did it again by drawing record numbers of viewers during the final episode of its first season.
While streaming is the show’s primary driver of viewership growth, this doesn’t even factor in linear viewing, which is a reflection of the people who still watch via HBO.
The fantasy drama is a prequel to Game Of Thrones (2011-2019) and the second television series in Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire franchise.
The series is based on parts of Martin’s book Fire & Blood (2018) and begins approximately 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen.
The series chronicles the events leading up to the downfall of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the Dance of the Dragons.
The cast includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish, Tom Glynn-Carney and Ewan Mitchell.
House Of The Dragon is created by George RR Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO; Condal and Martin will be seen at a promotional event in March 2023
Streaming 1.23 billion minutes in the week of its premiere, the series translated to an increase of 210 million streaming minutes between the highs of seasons one and two, according to Nielsen data obtained by The Hollywood Reporter; Olivia Cooke pictured in a scene from the hit series
The 1.23 billion minutes in the week of its premiere were good enough to land the show in fourth place, behind Bridgerton (2.47 billion minutes), Your Honor (1.95 billion minutes) and The Boys (1.29 billion minutes) for June’s numbers.
Other cast members include Olivia Cooke, Matthew Needham, Jefferson Hall, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Kurt Egyiawan and Kieran Bew, Abubakar Salim, Tom Taylor, Clinton Liberty, Tom Bennett, Ellora Torchia, Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin and Simon Russell Beale.
House of the Dragon received a straight-to-series order in October 2019, with casting beginning in July 2020. Filming began in April 2021.
Ultimately, the series and its 10 episodes premiered on HBO on August 21, 2022.
It took just five days after the premiere for network executives to decide to greenlight the series for a second season.
While the final episode of the second season is set to end on August 4, House Of The Dragon has already been renewed for a third season.
House Of The Dragon won, among others, the award for Best Television Series – Drama and Emma D’Arcy was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama at the 80th Golden Globe Awards.
The prequel series and its first 10 episodes premiered on HBO on August 21, 2022; Olivia Cooke and Freddie Fox shared this scene together
Season two, which premiered on June 16, will conclude its series finale on August 4
House Of The Dragon was renewed for a third season just five days after season two premiered on HBO; actors Tom Glynn-Carney and Ewan Mitchell are pictured
Additionally, the series was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, with the eventual winner winning the award for Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costume Design.
The original Games of Thrones was a huge success on HBO for eight seasons, with 73 episodes airing until May 19, 2019.
The series received 59 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most for a drama series, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Having attracted a loyal fan base worldwide and received widespread praise from viewers and critics alike, Game of Thrones is considered one of the greatest television series of all time.