'Game of Thrones' spinoff 'House of the Dragon' eyeing 2022 launch

"House of the Dragon", the prequel to epic fantasy series "Game of Thrones", is set to air in 2022, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys has said.

The spinoff of the popular HBO show has received a straight-to-series order.

"My guess is sometime in 2022," Bloys told Deadline about the premiere, adding it was too early to be more specific than that.

"They are starting writing," he said of the project from book series author George RR Martin and "Colony" scribe Ryan Condal.

The new spinoff will be based on "Fire & Blood", a companion book to Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" saga, on which "GOT" is based.

The pilot of the new prequel is set 300 years before the events of the flagship series and tells the story of House Targaryen, rich in the dragonlord ancestors of Daenerys (played by Emilia Clarke).

Bloys revealed there is no casting new yet and getting "House of the Dragon" on air is his "number one priority".

"There are no other blinking green lights or anything like that. Sometime down the road who knows, but there are no immediate plans. We are all focusing on 'House of the Dragon'," he added.

"GoT" veteran Miguel Sapochnik and Condal will serve as showrunners and are also attached to executive produce along with other "GoT" co-executive producers Martin and Vince Gerardis.

"House of the Dragon" was one of the four remaining spinoffs in the works at the network. The others are on hold, which could be indefinite or temporary.

A prequel spinoff co-created by Martin and Jane Goldman, which went to pilot starring Naomi Watts, was not picked up to series.