Game of Thrones prequel has a higher budget than its divisive final season

The budget for Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon has been revealed. 

Variety reports that the 10-episode first season of House of the Dragon will cost "under $20m an episode."

For reference, that’s still more than the $15m per episode budget of the main series’ controversial eighth and final season. It’s also more (in total) than the previous reported amount spent on Marvel's first wave of shows on Disney Plus, including Falcon and The Winter Soldier and WandaVision, which totted up to around $100-$150m.

House of the Dragon, which stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, and Paddy Considine as the last great generation of Targaryens in Westeros, wrapped filming back in February and author George R.R. Martin is already a huge fan of what he’s seen.

"I have seen rough cuts of a few of them, and I'm loving them," Martin said on his blog. "[T]he writing, the directing, the acting all look terrific. I hope you will like them as much as I do. My hat is off to [showrunner Ryan Condal] and [co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik] and their team, and to our amazing cast."

House of the Dragon, which is set 200 years before the mainline series, is set to go head-to-head with another prequel. House of the Dragon is set to debut on HBO from August 21. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be in direct competition with it, airing on Amazon from September 2.

While we wait for the trips back to Westeros and Middle-earth, here are some of the best shows on Amazon Prime that you should be watching right now.