House of the Dragon Pulls Biggest HBO Premiere Ever

10 million people tuned in to The Game of Thrones prequel on Sunday night.

HBO’s new Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, premiered on Sunday night to a crowd of nearly 10 million, the largest audience for any original series in HBO history.

The platform announced Monday that House of the Dragon drew in 9.986 million viewers across both linear and HBO Max platforms, and trended No. 1 on Twitter for over 14 hours. A viral video even showed a view from the streets of New York City, where nearly all of the TVs in one apartment building were synced up to the show as it aired live.

“It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night,” said HBO & HBO Max’s Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys in a statement. “House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response.”

Despite the long-standing success of Game of Thrones, seeing these numbers from House of the Dragon is somewhat of a shock, given the general disappointment the public had with Game of Throne’s series finale in 2019.

House of the Dragon takes place nearly 200 years before the original show, and takes viewers back to Westeros as it follows the lineage and eventual fortune of the House Targaryen. The cast is led by Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Milly Alcock, Olivia Cooke, and Emily Carey. 

Image via HBO.

And, if House of the Dragon is a bit confusing for you, podcast hosts Jason Concepcion and Greta Johnsen recently launched The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, a podcast dedicated to discussing the show and interviewing cast members. The podcast is available weekly via the iHeartRadio app.

New episodes of House of the Dragon will air on HBO every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST.

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