The work on Game of Thrones is draining: The two showrunners of the original series David Benioff and DB Weiss almost fled the fantasy production after 8 seasons. HBO would have liked to have done more seasons. The first spin-off series House of the Dragon loses one of the three big cornerstones in the background after season 1: director and showrunner Miguel Sapochnik.
A replacement for the confirmed 2nd season House of the Dragon is already in the starting blocks and its vita has ups and downs. (You can catch all episodes of House of the Dragon on the streaming service WOW * see)
Three years of work on House of the Dragon was enough
As the Hollywood Reporter writes, Sapochnik is stepping down from his post after “three grueling years” during which “Much effort” flowed into the GoT series. From the former creator trio around HoT-D, only Ryan Condal and of course original creator George RR Martin remain. Going forward, Sapochnik will only serve as executive producer and may develop other GoT projects. House of The Dragon had the best start of a series on HBO Max and even increased audience numbers with Episode 2.
I’m back in Game of Thrones HYPE! | House of the Dragon Episode 2 Recap
The House of The Dragon replacement did Thor 2, but maybe that’s not a bad thing
The successor, Alan Taylor, has already been determined. Taylor is no stranger to GoT history. He shot a total of 7 episodes of the fantasy series, including 6 during the first 2 seasons. So he was instrumental in shaping the tone and style of Game of Thrones. Alan Taylor is an accomplished episode director who has worked on some of the biggest series of all time: The Sopranos, Deadwood, Mad Men, Six Feet Under and Lost grace his resume.
However, this is tainted by 3 films: Terminator: Genisys, the Sopranos prequel Many Saints of Newark and of course the infamous Thor 2: The Dark Kingdom. Terminator and Thor 2 are among the respective low points of their franchises and extremely unpopular with fans.
When choosing Taylor, however, his experience in series and especially in GoT should have weighed more heavily.
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What do you think of the choice?