According to Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Games Head JB Perrette, HBO/Max will host the second season of “House of the Dragon” in June.
“During a media conference Q&A,” Perrette underlines it as one of the key HBO series that will help to drive a turnaround at the media giant, following a painful period due in part to last year’s Hollywood strikes.
Although it stopped short of a premiere date, HBO and HBO Max Content Chief Casey Bloys had in the past indicated an early-summer launch for the series. This was later confirmed as “Q2” by Discovery CEO David Zaslav in the February 23rd quarterly earnings call.
“House of the Dragon” is a prequel spinoff of “Game of Thrones,” set 172 years before the hit HBO series. Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, and Olivia Cooke, among others, will star. The series comes from Warner Bros., with executive producers Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin.
Perrette went on to single out such fare as “House of the Dragon,” the new HBO tentpoles in the year ahead, along with new installments of “The Last of Us,” “Euphoria,” and “White Lotus,” on the current program slate that has things continuing to trend toward utilizing bigger WarnerMedia IP as original fodder. He also singled out current projects like “The Penguin” and a Dune “series” as two examples of “things continuing to trend toward using bigger WarnerMedia IP as original fodder.”
On the areas that underscore HBO Max’s streaming growth, Perrette laid out plans that include international, “ending password-sharing Christmas,” offering ‘light’ subscriptions with fewer ads, and creative ways on how to shore up content. Despite facing challenges such as a lighter content slate in recent months, he maintains an optimistic outlook, especially with initiatives like streaming sports joint ventures that aim to boost offerings like sports on Max.
