Filming on Season 2 of “House of the Dragon” will continue in the U.K. despite the U.S. writers’ strike.
A source close to production tells Variety that scripts on the hit show have been done for some time, and that filming on the second season won’t be affected.
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The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended contract talks with the Writers Guild of America on Monday night, hours before the contract expiration deadline. The WGA responded by calling for a strike to begin on Tuesday.
Under strike rules, WGA members working internationally must down tools on any project that falls within the union’s jurisdiction if there’s active writing work taking place. As such, a number of U.S. projects filming in the U.K. could be affected by the strike — it’s just a matter of how extensively such a disruption will impact the production overall.
Luckily for HBO, completed scripts allow production to keep going, though it’s unclear how the cabler will handle any rewrites that are required on the show.
Based on author George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” book “Fire & Blood,” “House of the Dragon” has been filming its second season at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios since April 11, with HBO announcing the start of shooting with a statement from showrunner Ryan Condal that same day.
“House of the Dragon has returned,” said Condal. “We are thrilled to be shooting again with members of our original family as well as new talents on both sides of the camera. All your favorite characters will soon be conspiring at the council tables, marching with their armies, and riding their dragons into battle. We can’t wait to share what we have in store.”
News of “House of the Dragon’s” unfazed production schedule comes the same day the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain instructed its members in the U.K. who are also WGA members to stop all work on projects that are under the purview of the U.S. union.
Some U.K. writers who are also WGA members told Variety that they worked furiously across the weekend to submit scripts to their U.S. employers before the midnight PST deadline. Now that strike action has been called, these scribes are on strike alongside their American counterparts.
The second season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel stars Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning Season 1 cast members include Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.
Newly-announced actors joining “House of the Dragon” for Season 2 are Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower and Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull.
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