They are a bunch of dysfunctional dragons.
HBO’s Casey Bloys says the Targaryens — in their new series “House of the Dragon” — are probably the network’s most dysfunctional family yet, even beating the Roy family in “Succession.”
“We love our dysfunctional families,” the company’s chief content officer told the audience during the Los Angeles premiere of the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” spin-off, set to release on August 21.
“We’ve had the Sopranos, we’ve had the Fishers [‘Six Feet Under’]we’ve got the Roys, now you’ll see it tonight and for the next few weeks… the Targaryens are arguably the most dysfunctional family we’ve ever had on HBO and that doesn’t include having 17 dragons at their disposal.
Introducing the series Wednesday night at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Bloys admitted that they were struggling to figure out how to follow up on one of the most popular TV series of all time.
“It took us a few years, but we had a lot of fun with it and we think we found it,” he said of “House of the Dragon”, which was almost 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and follows House Targaryen’s wars of succession.
Cast members who attended the star screening, which was followed by a rooftop after-party, included Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Milly Alcock, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Paddy Considine, Emily Carey and Steve Toussaint.
“Party Down” actor Ryan Hansen, “House” star Lisa Edelstein, “Midnight Mass” actress Kate Siegel and “Casual” star Michaela Watkins were also spotted at the event.
However, the mastermind behind the entire project, author George RR Martin, was not at the party.
“I wanted to start today by introducing George RR Martin and tell you how wonderful it is to have George travel with us,” Bloys told the crowd. “Unfortunately, George got COVID at Comic-Con, so he’s not here.”
Bloys added that Martin, 73, is doing just fine, which the author addressed in his own video posted on YouTube.