Last week’s news of Jane Goldman’s Game of Thrones prequel pilot may not be the end of HBO’s spinoff plans. Of course, we’ve known for some time that HBO was considering five possible prequels to continue and expand the Game of Thrones universe – but we still have no idea just how many will pan out. Goldman’s show getting a pilot suggests four remain, and on his blog, A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin provided an update on the rest.
George R.R. Martin thinks we could see even more Game of Thrones spinoffs. Photo: Kevin Winter (Getty Images)
Martin said that one of the ideas has been rejected – but that the three that remain could still happen, even though Goldman’s is moving ahead first.
“Three more Game of Thrones prequels, set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development,” the author wrote.
“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.”
Martin said he’s been consulting with most of the people involved with those shows and some have even come to visit him to discuss the ideas. However, he says he won’t be writing on any of them because he’s still working on the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter.
“Work on Winds of Winter continues, and remains my top priority,” Martin continued. “It is ridiculous to think otherwise. If I wasn’t busy with Winds, don’t you think I’d be scripting one or more of these pilots myself? It’s not as if I’ve never written for TV…”
The writer was working on a Thrones project with producer/writer Bryan Cogman previously. Could this mean the idea that was scrapped was his?
As for the title of the Goldman show, which is set generations before the original series, Martin has a suggestion, though he doesn’t think it will come to fruition.
“My vote would be The Long Night,” he said. “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.”
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones will air in 2019.