House of the Dragon Preview Draws 5,000 at Taormina
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- Taormina Film Festival staged an open‑air preview of House of the Dragon Season 3 in its ancient Greek amphitheater, drawing a mixed crowd of schoolchildren, pensioners and tourists.
- Steve Toussaint and fellow cast members Tom Glynn‑Carney, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia and Phoebe Campbell attended the screening, while showrunner Ryan Condal sent a video greeting but did not travel.
- Live orchestra performed the series’ score and projected a collage of show images onto the stone walls, creating a “spectacular effect.”
- Audience reaction included cheers, gasps and a “squeal of disgust” when the character Aemond appears to lean in for a kiss with his mother, highlighting the scene’s emotional impact.
- Alessandro Araimo, HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery’s South Europe boss, linked the dragons to Sicily’s Mount Etna and recalled how The White Lotus boosted Taormina tourism by 30% after its second season launched in October 2022.
- Jane Campion presided over the festival jury, joined by members such as Holly Hunter, Miyako Bellizzi, Francine Maisler, Akinola Davies Jr., and Amazon MGM Studios global‑marketing head Sue Kroll.
- Naval battle in episode 1 features Lord Corlys Velaryon (Toussaint) confronting female admiral Sharako Lohar (Abigail Thorn), a key visual highlight of the preview.
Why it matters: The screening adds to Taormina's momentum as a filming destination, following a 30% tourism increase after The White Lotus, while giving HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery a high‑visibility platform for Season 3 and showcasing the series' dramatic appeal to a diverse audience of schoolchildren, pensioners and tourists.
