Miguel Sapochnik, co-showrunner of house of the dragon and frequent Game of Thrones franchise director, will be leaving house of the dragon at the end of season 1. Writer and executive producer Ryan Condal will continue to serve as showrunner for Season 2 – for which the show taped last week.
Sapochnik will be replaced on the series by Alan Taylor, who will likely fill a very similar role to Sapochnik, except he won’t be a showrunner. Instead, Taylor will take on the role of executive producer and director, much like Sapochnik did. And like Sapochnik, Taylor has quite a bit of experience in this universe, having directed several episodes of the original game of Thrones, including “Beyond the Wall” and the last two chapters of the first season. Taylor has also directed several films including Thor: The Dark World and Terminator Genisysbut at least his thrones Episodes are pretty good.
Sapochnik remains executive producer on the series and has a first-look deal with HBO over future projects. Along with three episodes of house of the dragon and classic game of Thrones Episodes like “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”, Sapochnik has also directed films such as finch and repo men. Sapochnik will go house of the dragon after working on the series for nearly three years and helping guide it through the development process along with Condal and writer George RR Martin.
Sapochnik’s departure shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, especially considering how much time he’s devoted to the Game of Thrones franchise over the past few years. In fact, sapochnik was initially hesitant to officially join the team house of the dragon, although he helped develop the show. While Condal eventually convinced him to come on board, it appears the arrangement was only for a limited time, to help get the show off on the right foot.
