House of the Dragon showrunners discuss going head-to-head with The Rings of Power

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"My hope is that both series work and find a huge fanbase"

Emma D'Arcy in House of the Dragon
(Image credit: HBO)

Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may be going head to head for viewership when they hit the small screen this fall – the two high fantasy series are premiering less than two weeks apart. However, House of the Dragon's showrunners don't seem worried. 

"My hope is that both series work and find a huge fanbase and that there’s a huge overlap in the fanbase," co-showrunner Ryan Condal told The Hollywood Reporter. "I think the more big, expensive – really expensive – fantasies that work on television, the better for us fans because they’ll make more of them. I desperately want Rings of Power to work. I’m going to be there watching it the first night it’s available, I will watch all of them."

Co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik added: "Lord of the Rings is great IP and great material. I have no idea what they’ve done – I didn’t make it past The Hobbit 1 – but fantastic. The more the merrier, really."

Set around 200 years before the events of the original HBO series, House of the Dragon will tell the story of House Targaryen and the famed Targaryen civil war that became known as the 'Dance of the Dragons'. The cast includes Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, and Olivia Cooke.

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.