All About Interwebz: 'Nothing to announce': HBO bluntly responds to House of the Dragon season 2 release month leak

HBO has responded to claims that House of the Dragon season 2 might be released in August 2024.

Speaking on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show in the UK (as first reported by NME), Matt Smith, one of the hit fantasy show's big-name stars, seemingly confirmed House of the Dragon season 2 would return to our screens in the latter part of this year.

Asked if he knew when the show's sophomore season would air, Smith simply replied: "August, I think. This summer, yeah."

However, responding to TechRadar's request for an official statement concerning Smith's comments, an HBO representative only said: "We have nothing to announce about a debut date or month for season [two]."

We previously learned that House of the Dragon season 2 would be with us in summer 2024 (that's winter for anyone living south of the equator). Smith's comments, though, are the clearest indication yet that the popular Max series is gearing up to return in the final throes of mid-2024.

A song of fire and blood

Queen Rhaenyra stands stoically alone on a shoreline in House of the Dragon season 2 — *House of the Dragon* season 2 will mark the Dance of the Dragons' true beginning. (Image credit: Theo Whitman/HBO)

If Smith's comment proves to be true, season 2's release will be the second time that House of the Dragon launched in the middle part of the year (if August can be described in such a way). The critically-acclaimed show's first outing debuted on Max in the US (Sky Atlantic in the UK and Binge/Foxtel in Australia) on August 21, 2022, so it's plausible that its sequel season might arrive around a similar date this year.

As one of the best Max shows around, fans are desperate for the series' return, too – not least because it'll mark the real beginning of the Dance of the Dragons. The devastating Targaryen civil war, which destroyed the ruling family from within, was set up in House of the Dragon's shocking season 1 finale, so we can expect more bloodshed, heightened drama, thrilling and barbaric action, and unexpected power moves to play out in season 2.

Despite the 2023 Hollywood actors and writers strikes, House of the Dragon season 2 was one of the few movie and TV productions left unscathed by the bitter, months-long stand-offs. Indeed, the show largely employs British actors, many of whom aren't part of the Writers Guild of America or Screen Actors Guild. So, when the two unions embarked on a prolonged period of industrial action last year, work on House of the Dragon's next entry wasn't temporarily shut down. That meant filming could continue through 2023 and its 2024 launch could be pencilled in.

House of the Dragon isn't the only Game of Thrones spin-off project that's in development at HBO, either. Earlier in January, beloved author George R.R. Martin, whose literary works the shows are based on, confirmed three Game of Thrones animated spin-offs were also in active development. It's unclear whether they'll all be greenlit by HBO, though, despite Martin's cautious optimism.