GoT bosses announce prequel air date – and explain why Bloodmoon was axed

The head of HBO has finally indicated when the new GoT series will premiere – and explained why the first prequel was suddenly axed.

Game of Thrones bosses have announced the show’s prequel, House of the Dragon, will air in 2022 as they explained why Bloodmoon was axed.

HBO president of programming, Casey Bloys, opened up about the fantasy franchise in a new interview, confirming that other Thrones spin-offs are still on hold.

Speaking to Deadline about when House of the Dragon will premiere, Bloys said: “My guess is some time in 2022.”

House of the Dragon is all about the Targaryens.

He also confirmed that author George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal were writing the new series, which is based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood.

The prequel focuses on Daenerys’ dragonlord ancestors in House Targaryen, with the series set 300 years before Game of Thrones.

It is one of four remaining spin-offs that HBO have in the works, with the other three on hold indefinitely.

Bloys continued: “Obviously, it’s a big, complicated show.

“For me for right now, I think getting House of the Dragon on the air will be the number one priority.

“Sometime down the road who knows, but there are no immediate plans. We are all focusing on House of the Dragon.”

The show will premiere in 2022. Picture: HBO

Actress Naomi Watts previously starred in a pilot for Bloodmoon, the first Thrones prequel to be greenlit, written by Jane Goldman.

Unfortunately, the pilot was not picked up to become a series, with Bloys insisting they expected this to happen, sharing: “In pilots, sometimes things come together, sometimes they don’t.

“There was a lot more world creation because she set hers 8000 years before the show, so it required a lot more.

“One of the things about House of Dragons, there is a text, there is a book, so that made it a little bit more of a road map for a series order.”

The Naomi Watts-led GoT prequel was axed late last year. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

He continued: “I think Jane did a beautiful job. It was a big challenge, but there was nothing that I would point to and say: ‘Oh, that one element did not work’.

“Just overall it did not quite gel.

“We purposefully developed multiple projects. We would have been very lucky to do one pilot, have that pilot go and be a success, but in development as you know, it takes a lot of tries to get it right – this is no different.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission