House of The Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will compete for the viewership of fantasy enthusiasts this summer. However, George R.R. Martin hopes House of the Dragon, an adaptation of his 2018 novel Fire & Blood, will slightly outperform its competition. In a recent interview with The Independent, Martin spoke on the rivalry created by the two shows releasing so close together.
“I hope both shows succeed. Yeah, I’m competitive enough, I hope we succeed more. If they win six Emmy’s, and I hope they do, I hope we win seven. But nonetheless it’s good for fantasy, I love fantasy, I love science-fiction.”
HBO is releasing House of the Dragon on Aug. 21st, with Amazon’s The Rings of Power arriving shortly after that, on Sept. 2nd. Both shows are releasing weekly instead of binge-format. Therefore, the first seasons will overlap, giving fans of the series a lot to look forward to.
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“The minute the dates were announced, it’s ‘oh, the battle for supremacy. It’s Rings of Power versus House of [the] Dragon, who will win? I don’t know why they always have to do that.”
This will be uncharted territory for Lord of the Rings fans, with a noticeable lack of source material being used for The Rings of Power show. Without any novels to guide the writers, the series will be based on the immense backstory that J.R.R. Tolkien laid out in the appendices to the LOTR books. The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth, thousands of years before the events of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The series will be the most expensive television show ever made after Amazon acquired the rights in 2017 for $250 million. There is currently a five-season production commitment worth at least $1 billion.
Related: What the House of the Dragon Trailer Reveals About The Show
It’s the Golden Age for Fans of Fantasy
HBO
It’s been over three years since the controversial finale of Game of Thrones and more than a decade since Martin released a new entry into the series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Needless to say, fans are itching to get back into the world of Westeros and the lands beyond. House of the Dragon will star Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, and Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. In addition, Miguel Sapochnik is returning to direct at least three episodes in the series, which should excite fans as he directed some of the most beloved Game of Thrones episodes, such as Hardhome and Battle of the Bastards.
Related: Early The Rings of Power Reactions Praise Amazon’s Vision for the Lord of the Rings Prequel
Although several characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be returning to The Rings of Power, the actors who played them will not. Due to the drastic difference in time periods, characters like Elrond and Galadriel have been recast to represent their younger selves during the Second Age. The series stars Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, and Joseph Mawle as Oren.
With HBO Max and Amazon Prime releasing both shows before the summer’s end, Tolkein and Martin fans won’t have to wait much longer to travel back to Westeros and the world of Middle-Earth.
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