Warner Bros. Discovery Boss David Zaslav Raves About ‘House of the Dragon’ in Staff Email

Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav heaped high praise on HBO’s upcoming fantasy drama House of the Dragon in an email to staffers Friday morning.

As critics’ reviews began pouring in for the Game of Thrones prequel, the executive wrote that “the entire HBO team have shepherded what looks to be the next big cultural moment. I had a chance to watch the premiere in Los Angeles with [HBO boss Casey Bloys] and the team and was blown away by the quality of the production, richness of the story, and power of the action. It is something we should all be really proud of, and we cannot wait to share it with audiences worldwide. … We look forward to the start of this exciting new adventure, and to thrilling fans with the kind of buzzworthy cultural moments the Targaryen family is sure to deliver.”

The comments bode well the Game of Thrones franchise’s future as sources have suggested HBO is poised to potentially renew Dragon after Sunday night’s premiere.

The executive went on to say that Dragon has benefited from “the largest marketing campaign in HBO’s history.”

“We reached nearly 130 million people in the U.S. alone,” he wrote. “It has also been exciting to see teams across the company work collaboratively with the HBO team in what has been an unprecedented cross-promotional campaign. And we’ve done all of this in just a few short months, clearly showing what we can accomplish when our networks, streaming platforms, digital and social channels, all work collectively in support of one shared priority. We can really move the needle and I can’t wait to see what we will do on future campaigns when we harness the full reach and unique opportunities we bring to the table.”

Zaslav gained oversight of HBO in April after the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger and his reign so far has been headlined by budget-cutting moves such as heavy layoffs and shelving the $90 million HBO Max Batgirl movie for a tax write-down.