"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" Enters Top Three HBO Max Premieres
Interest in stories within George Martin's universe remains strong.
The premiere of the series "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" proved to be more than successful for HBO Max. In the first three days after its release, the debut episode was watched by 6.7 million viewers, allowing the project to enter the top three largest premieres in the platform's history.
The company did not specify which series accompanied "A Knight" in the ranking. However, according to Western media, the list also includes "House of the Dragon" and "It: Welcome to Derry" or "The Last of Us". The original "Game of Thrones" is not included in the calculations for technical reasons. At the time of its premiere, the HBO Max service did not yet exist.
For HBO, these figures became an important signal. For a long time, there was a perception in the media that viewers were tired of George Martin's world after the controversial finale of "Game of Thrones" and the second season of "House of the Dragon", which began to lose ground. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" not only retained the attention of franchise fans but also confirmed the potential of the expanded universe, largely dispelling previous doubts.
Currently, the second season is already in production. It was previously reported that the series was initially planned to be limited to three seasons, one for each novella from the cycle about Dunk and Egg, which in Russia is also known as "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."
However, showrunner Ira Parker, like Martin himself, does not rule out a more ambitious approach. The authors are considering the possibility of tracing the duo's history throughout their lives, up to 12 seasons, designed for approximately 30 years.
The key question is approval from HBO. Martin has already passed drafts of all the stories to the showrunner, and the writer plans to return to work on the cycle after completing the novel "The Winds of Winter."
