HBO announces new 'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon'

Its tagline is "Fire will Reign," and will be based on George R.R. Martin’s book "Fire & Blood"

CALIFORNIA (Reuters) - HBO has officially ordered a "Game of Thrones" prequel. The new spinoff, "House of the Dragon," will be set 300 years prior to the events of the original show and tell the story of House Targaryen.

It features the tagline "Fire will Reign," and will be based on George R.R. Martin’s book "Fire & Blood"

The show, which has been ordered straight to series, will be written by Ryan Condal, HBO Programming president Casey Bloys announced Tuesday. Martin, who wrote the books on which "Game of Thrones" is based, is set to co-executive produce. Ten episodes have been ordered for the series so far.

#HouseOfTheDragon, a #GameofThrones prequel is coming to @HBO. The series is co-created by @GRRMSpeaking and Ryan Condal. Miguel Sapochnik will partner with Condal as showrunner and will direct the pilot and additional episodes. Condal will be writing the series. pic.twitter.com/9ttMzElgXm

— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) October 29, 2019

Miguel Sapochnik, who won an Emmy for directing the "Battle of the Bastards" episode, will be a co-showrunner, and will also direct the pilot and other episodes. Vince Gerardis will join Spochnik, Condal and Martin as an executive producer.

Earlier, the "Game of Thrones" prequel television series starring Naomi Watts has been ditched by cable channel HBO, Hollywood media reported.

HBO declined to comment on the reports.

A pilot, or first episode, for the show, was shot in Northern Ireland earlier this year. The story is set thousands of years before the events covered in medieval fantasy "Game of Thrones."

Deadline said executive producer Jane Goldman had been emailing the cast and crew to tell them the project was not being picked up by HBO, a unit of AT&T’s Warner Media . Variety and Entertainment Weekly said they had confirmed the news with industry sources.

The reason for the decision was unclear.

Casey Bloys, president of programming at HBO, had told reporters in July after filming finished on the pilot episode that he was pleased with what he had seen.

"It looks really good. The cast was amazing," Bloys said at a Television Critics Association event in Beverly Hills.

The final season of "Game of Thrones" won 12 Emmy awards, including the top prize of best drama series, in September.

The pilot for the prequel was one of several "Game of Thrones" related projects that were put into development at HBO prior to the end of the series.