The premiere of "Home of the Dragon," a prequel to the acclaimed collection "Sport of Thrones," drew in almost 10 million viewers Sunday night time, HBO introduced Monday. It was the biggest viewers for any new unique collection in HBO's historical past, in response to an announcement from the corporate.
Regardless of a "Sport of Thrones" finale many followers thought of disappointing, "Home of the Dragon" registered 9.986 million viewers throughout linear and HBO Max platforms, HBO mentioned. The present was a success on on social media as nicely, HBO mentioned, rating No. 1 on Twitter's trending subjects for 14 hours.
"It was great to see thousands and thousands of 'Sport of Thrones' followers return with us to Westeros final night time. 'Home of the Dragon' options an extremely gifted solid and crew who poured their coronary heart and soul into the manufacturing, and we're ecstatic with viewers' constructive response," Casey Bloys, HBO & HBO Max chief content material officer, mentioned within the assertion.
Jennifer Maas, a tv enterprise author for Selection, instructed CBS Information on Tuesday that subsequent week's retention numbers will present extra info — however mentioned the present might mark the return of what she known as "occasion TV," years after the unique Sport of Thrones went off the air in 2019.
Maas mentioned "Home of the Dragon" has many elements working in its favor, together with a longtime fan base and the truth that the collection relies on a e-book in George R. R. Martin's collection that has already been printed. Whereas a lot of the unique "Sport of Thrones" was based mostly on printed books from Martin's "A Track of Ice and Hearth" collection, the ultimate two seasons weren't – a sore spot for followers sad with how the present ended.
"There's a blueprint for this collection that is already established during its finish, every time that needs to be," Maas mentioned.
Set 200 years earlier than the occasions in "Sport of Thrones" transpire, "Home of the Dragon" takes followers again to Westeros and tells the story of Home Targaryen. The second episode of the collection, "Hearth Will Reign," will debut on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.