HBO may be wrapping up Game of Thrones next year, but they aren't letting the world of Westeros just vanish. Too much money in it to let that happen. Last week they greenlit the first of multiple planned prequel shows, this one from author George RR Martin and Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman. As you might expect with projects of this size there have been a ton of rumors about what to expect, so Martin took to his blog to help clear the air...
“Yes, this is a prequel, not a sequel. None of the characters or actors from GAME OF THRONES will appear in the new show. All of the successor shows we’ve been developing have been prequels, as I have mentioned before. This one really puts the PRE in prequel, since it is set not ninety years before GAME OF THRONES (like Dunk & Egg), or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years (well, assuming the oral histories of the First Men are accurate, but there are maesters at the Citadel who insist it has only been half that long). We’re very early in the process, of course, with the pilot order just in, so we don’t have a director yet, or a cast, or a location, or even a title. (My vote would be THE LONG NIGHT, which says it all, but I’d be surprised if that’s where we end up. More likely HBO will want to work the phrase “game of thrones” in there somewhere. We’ll know sooner or later).”
Yes, I do think HBO will want Game of Thrones in the title, George. They're already conceding a lot by excluding the familiar characters audiences love.
As for the other prequels, they were being developed by Max Borenstein, Brian Helgeland, Cary Wray, and Bryan Cogman. But Martin says one of those is now on the shelf...
“As for the other successor shows…if you have been following along, you know that we started with four, and eventually went to five. One of those has been shelved, I am given to understand, and of course Jane’s pilot is now moving to film. But that does not mean the others are dead. Three more GAME OF THRONES prequels, set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development. Everything I am told indicates that we could film at least one more pilot, and maybe more than one, in the years to come. We do have an entire world and tens of thousands of years of history to play with, after all. But this is television, so nothing is certain.”
It's unclear which series was dropped, and with so many in development I wouldn't be surprised if others failed to make the cut and were replaced by different ones. It's not as if HBO has any need to hurry on these, and they will probably hold off on any firm announcements until Game of Thrones is drawing to a close.
