Further details have emerged regarding Miguel Sapochnik’s abrupt departure from HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon”.
Sapochnik helped create the series, executive produce and served as co-showrunner on the first season of the series, with his exit announced around the time the show premiered. At the time, the reason wasn’t apparent, but Sapochnik was a regular helmer of multiple major episodes of ‘Thrones’ and had spent three years working on ‘Dragon’.
Puck News (via Indiewire) reports that Sapochnik departed ‘Dragon’ following a ‘protracted standoff’ regarding his wife Alexis Raben and her involvement as a producer on the show.
Raben was a credited producer on the first season, along with making appearances in a handful of episodes as Alicent’s lady-in-waiting Talya. However, when Sapochnik made the request to include her as a producer on the team for the second season, HBO is believed to have declined the request due to her inexperience.
A mediator was brought in to resolve the spiralling situation, but it didn’t work. Sapochnik stuck with his wife and left the show – forgoing a lot of money in the process. At the same time, he fired his reps at the WME agency and joined rival CAA with his wife.
Sapochnik’s exit was accompanied by a first-look deal for future projects with HBO. “House of the Dragon” co-creator Ryan Condal now serves as sole showrunner with the help of franchise author and co-creator George R.R. Martin.
