Not every big casualty in the Game of Thrones universe came during the Battle of Winterfell. Bryan Cogman, a writer and director on HBO’s hit fantasy series, revealed that the Game of Thrones prequel that he developed with author George R. R. Martin would not be going forward.
“My prequel show is not happening and will not happen,” Cogman told The Hollywood Reporter. “HBO decided to go a different way.” HBO asked Cogman to develop a Game of Thrones successor in 2017.
Instead, HBO is pushing ahead with an entirely different prequel series from Martin and writer Jane Goldman. That show, which has already cast Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse in lead roles, will be set thousands of years before Game of Thrones and will reveal the “horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history” and “the true origin of the White Walkers.” Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will not be involved with the series.
Cogman’s canceled series and Goldman’s prequel are two of five Game of Thrones spinoffs that HBO commissioned in anticipation of the flagship series’ eighth and final season. Even then, Martin warned that not all of the shows would see the light of day. “Decades of experience in television and film have taught me that nothing is ever really certain,” Martin wrote, “but I do think it’s very unlikely that we’ll be getting four (or five) series.”
It is easy to understand why HBO would be eager to get more Game of Thrones in production. The show has been a massive success for the premium network, winning 38 Emmy awards — a record for a single series — and generating record-setting social media buzz (pirates seem to like it, too). It’ i also ending after its eighth season, which airs in just a few weeks.
One Game of Thrones follow-up has already filmed. A reunion special featuring many of the actors who appeared on the show, including season 1 fatality Sean Bean, was taped in Belfast, Ireland, in 2018. The special is expected to be released as an exclusive bonus feature in the Game of Thrones season 8 DVD and Blu-ray collections.
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