From the masterminds who brought you eight seasons of Game of Thrones come, well we’re not sure just yet! News recently broke that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (known mostly as David and Dan round these parts) have officially signed their next global deal. After a lengthy courting process which included bidders from Comcast, Disney, Amazon, and Apple, they ultimately set their sights and signed their pens with the hottest ticket in global TV. No, it wasn’t with HBO, though you’d certainly not be wrong for guessing that, given their decade-long recently concluded residence at the WarnerMedia-owned hub. It would appear that they have ultimately decided to take up residency at Netflix. So what’s cooking for them over at the ‘ol streaming site? Let’s see if we can figure that out…
We’ve had a beautiful run with HBO for more than a decade and we’re grateful to everyone there for always making us feel at home. Over the past few months we’ve spent many hours talking to Cindy Holland and Peter Friedlander, as well as Ted Sarandos and Scott Stuber. We remember the same shots from the same ‘80s movies; we love the same books; we’re excited about the same storytelling possibilities. Netflix has built something astounding and unprecedented, and we’re honored they invited us to join them.
Sources tell Deadline that David and Dan’s deal might be in the 9-figure range, worth as much as $300 million, and rumored to span 5 years. So this begs the question: Is that 5 years’ worth of varied content? Or 5 seasons of a single show? We don’t have too much to go off of. Over the last couple of years, Netflix has pooled its money behind major talents such as Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, but each of them is well known for producing multiple shows on television, often overseeing them from afar, with no more than an executive producer credit slapped on to many episodes of their shows. That’s not to say that their mark is any less evident, but I want to specify that it’s not an apples to apples comparison if we’re using this to try and figure out what David and Dan are up to. D&D were not just executive producers, but the writers, showrunners, and even sometimes directors of GOT, so this could suggest that the rumored $300 million is more than likely to be for one show they can focus their attention on. Would it be another high fantasy to compete with the HBO’s upcoming GOT spinoff, Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time, or Showtime’s upcoming Kingkiller Chronicles, or one of the other 800 zillion other ‘high fantasy prestige drama’ that are innumerably upcoming? Who knows?
We do know a few things, however. We know that D&D will have their time occupied for quite a while, given the next Star Wars movie following this December’s Episode IX will be theirs, and also that it will be the first of a trilogy. So this begs the question of how involved they will be able to get with their Netflix project(s). Amidst all this speculation, my ultimate guess is that they will fall into the aforementioned roles of overall executive producers, where they will oversee multiple projects, and won’t have to spend day to day on any one set (other than their Star Wars trilogy, where I expect them to fully be in charge).
Of course, your guess is as good as mine, and I’d love to hear what it is. What say you?
Good for them! Congratulations! They deserve it.
Read that yesterday; good for them, tho Netflix? seemed like a come down; somewhere I got the feeling it was not doing well. I know we canceled ours so we could get Amazon. For their sakes I hope this works for them!
Long may they reign!
I’m happy for them. They created my favorite show ever and I can’t wait for their Star Wars.
I’ve been wondering: Where does Netflix get all this money to pay big bucks for long term deals? I thought CBS All Access, Amazon, Hulu and a bunch of other streaming services are competing in the same market.
ash,
Wait… Since HBO’s president said HBO isn’t doing spinoffs, and Maisie Williams said she wouldn’t want to do a spinoff without Benioff and Weiss…
Maybe we’ll see an Arya spinoff on Netflix in a couple of years??? It’s a cash cow waiting to happen.
https://mobile.twitter.com/TanyaKidney/status/1130821703196643328/photo/1
Benioff and Weiss will be EP for Jane Goldman’s show.
They should thank GRRM. His source material is the main reason GoT became a worldwide phenomenon.
furrever,
Then why his books weren’t world phenomenon like Harry Potter or 50 shades of gray were before adaptations?
furrever,
Yeah, I’m sure that the men who oversaw the entire production, wrote 90% of the episodes, and brought the show together had nothing to do with it.
I think this just underlies the reality of the business. No matter how they were pressed, the actors could not be critical of season 8 ( or other weak story lines in seasons past) because they have to look towards their next jobs. Perhaps Charles Dance could get away with it at the end of his career. But D&D are now huge powers and there will be jobs.
My guess is that they will help with the Witchers project. If that’s true, I will give that show a try (not really feeling the hype of that saga but if D&D are helping out with it I have high hopes for it and might try it).
palushka,
D&D doesn’t control the business. There are more producers, writers etc out there who need good actors to work on their program. And if that will not grand them jobs many could get a job in their own country (NCW for instance) or theater itself.
And most of the time producers try to avoid hiring the same actors for their next projects if their old one was a big succes. They most of the time want new actors that doesn’t have a name with them. Only some not-so-known-shows tent to use same actors for multiple shows, big ones seldom.
And many actors want another kind of story, away from a big show like GoT because if is heavy with all the press.
And don’t forget that NCW was defending D&D as persons, he didn’t have to do that to remain professional. That means he really wanted to defend D&D personally not their project at that moment, and he stated that they cared a lot about the fans, giving GoT an amazing ending for the fans.
And as for professionally. If the ending of GoT was so horrible like some think it was, and season 8 was an abomination like some stated. Netflix, Disney etc weren’t trying to outbid them, they would have been: Sorry guys, your big show dropped huge in quality in it’s last season, bad press for us, we won’t want to give our company bad press and losing viewers and money, you guys won’t get a job here. No those companies wanted D&D, because their reputation still stands, they have faith in them that they could deliver something great, which means to men still felt season 8 was great enough to give them viewers and money.
Congrats to David and Dan. Well deserved and unquestionably the greatest show runners of this “golden era” of television. Can’t wait to see what they cook up for Netflix. Thank you for a marvelous 8 seasons of masterclass television, I’ll always be grateful.
I have no idea what to expect from them. Love the job they did on seasons 1-5.5. Never was worried about going off the books, had full confidence in them. Obviously, then became really disappointed in what they did with almost every single character arc and the plotting. A bit shocked actually. Now they have the chance to prove themselves when not tied down to someone else’s story and characters. Also will have to find their way without HBO there to provide them with the best producers, VFX, costume and set designers, etc. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Jack Bauer 24,
All I know is that out of roughly 73 hours of total run time, I’ve been able to extract enough Arya and Sandor scenes to construct a perpetual rewatch loop. And that is good enough for me. Everything else is icing on the cake.
I have a short attention span and limited patience:
Arya/Maisie Williams = the reason I kept watching the show after S1e1 instead of flipping channels midway through the first episode.
Sandor/Rory McCann = ostensible third tier character who evolved into the best lead actor.
Whether it was George Martin, Benioff and Weiss, Williams and McCann, or all of them who brought these characters to life on the screen, I’m grateful. (I can pretend the High Sparrow, Euron and Ramsay never happened.)
LatrineDiggerBrian,
• LDB! You’re back!!!
• You wrote: “Love the job they did on seasons 1-5.5.”
Ummm. What about 5.8, “Hardhome”? That was spectacular from start to finish, wasn’t it?
Ten Bears,
By 5.5, he means he’s enjoyed 5 and a half seasons, so up to season 6 episode 5. At least, that’s what I think based on his previous posts.
Ten Bears,
I never left. I guess though I hadn’t posted in a couple of weeks.
I meant to say I loved the job they did for the first five and a half seasons. So all of S5 as well as half of S6. Hardhome was fine, though I was never that big of a fan of the big zombie battles or big battles in general. I hope the prequel (if they greenlight it) doesn’t become obsessed with having a big stupid battle every season.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
I was going to recommend Ozzy Man Review of S8e5 “Hardhome”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRKFD0rbZBQ
It’s almost as enjoyable as the episode itself.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Oh, I understand now. By “Seasons 1 – 5.5” you meant the first five and a half seasons, i.e., through Season 6 Episode 5. (Thanks Young Dragon & LDB for clarifying.)
Coincidentally, I’ve posited that sometime around mid-Season 6 (after the “Hold the Door” reveal) is where GRRM left the showrunners without “connective tissue” between the setup and the endgame.
mau,
Huh? Of course they we’re!
Ash,
ASOIAF was not world phenomenon before GoT.
For example Witcher series is far more successful now than GRRM’s books were before 2011.
ASOIAF was successful, but nothing extraordinary.
Ten Bears,
Yeeeessss!!!!
I hope they dont have another deal pending toward the end of thier contract and short change thier current one…. again. Just my opinion.
mau,
So where did all the inital fans come from when this was greenlighted? From all the readers all over the world who read the books. There were websites for readers to discuss the books, again from all over the world. No, not HP, but you would never have had GOT without the huge fanbase of ASOIAF. Now, GOT certainly has introduced many more people to the books. But lets not forget how it started (and no I am not going to get into a discussion about which is better, blah blah blah. Just needed to respond to y our comment.)
Ten Bears,
Yeah and not really directly split in half either, I liked some later episodes (A Broken Man is one of favorites in the series) and disliked some of the earlier ones. I’ll take a look at that video, Hardhome was cool and unexpected, but I prefer the smaller action scenes, the trial by combats, Dany invading cities, the Red Wedding, Brienne vs the bear, etc. The stakes seem higher in those scenes and the character developments are more interesting.
I think the bottomline is, there were three elements that made the series what it was: George’s story, D & Ds adapting, and HBOs producing. If you subtract one of these elements, the show could have never existed. They all needed each other equally. It was lightning in a bottle, the stars aligned.
Well, I could be wrong – but I will be very surprised if Messrs B and D ever become involved in another project where the source material is unfinished. I’ve stated on previous occasions that I wouldn’t have looked at the ASOIAF books if I hadn’t seen the show. I MIGHT not have bothered about the books (albeit they are for the most part a “good read”) if I’d known they would still be unfinished six years after I first started watching the show. (I’m not metaphorically bashing GRRM – he’s not my female canine (nor am I his)).
For my part I don’t wish the two Ds any malice for the future or wish to see them out of a job – they have families to support after all. What they make of any current or future opportunities is up to them. And I’m an adult – I can mostly avoid any articles or videos that might not be my cup of tea about GoT. That said, one video did come into my YouTube feed by a YouTuber who I won’t name but he seemed to be really angry and saying things about DB personally. I didn’t watch the whole thing (and in truth I was already aware of that YouTuber and he always seemed annoyed) but the dislike seemed something of an obsession. Though in the early days of my involvement in the fandom I was absorbed enough in the story to find the forerunner of this site.
ash,
It was popular book series, not pop culture phenomenon. RW wasn’t referenced anywhere before 2013. Now everyone knows.
ash,
Its the same story with McDonalds. Two Guys invented it, made it popular but then one guy came along and made it a worldwide phenomenon. Without Roy Kroc the creation of the two brothers would have never found that huge success.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Yup. And Nina Goldman’s casting (What luck)
I wish they were working on a Mistborn series with Maisie as Vin, but no such luck.
One BIG job role of D&D that they excelled in during GoT’s run was organizational; the department heads they selected such as Nina, the spread sheet on how everyone interconnects and works as a well oiled machine akin to a Marine Division. There is no denying they bring their A+ game when it comes to executive production.
Ten Bears,
Blimey, have you got some weird fixation with Maisie Williams/Arya? Hardly a day goes past without you mentioning her in a post.
I also enjoyed her interactions with Rory McCann, but FFS the show has finished. There’s never going to be an Arya/Sandor spinoff from Netflix, HBO or whoever.
D & D aside, there are so many possibilities for spinoffs which have been discussed in these pages ad infinitum. Arya’s explorations, Bran the Broken’s reign, The return of Drogon, Jon’s adventures in the North, he being the only one who can tame Drogon let alone if Daenarys has been resurrected by the lord of light…and so on and so forth. I think I am more into sequels than prequels. Sad to have lost Jaimie and Cersei, Euron and Sandor yet so many wonderful actors remain. I’ll steal a Donald Trump refrain in reverse: BRING THEM BACK!!!
Netflix is one big money laundering scheme company. Will not be around in 2-3 years
This is an anomaly. Anomalies bug me.
When the biggest show on the planet, the show you’ve fought for, the show you’ve produced, crashes, you don’t get big deals; especially when after it crashes, you go MIA.
This doesn’t happen unless you have something up your sleeve…
howtathor,
I agree, but this reminds me of Trading Place in the near empty NYSE, screaming ‘turn those lights back on!”
Iul,
Crashes? It was the most watched season in the history of HBO and wasn’t nominated for 32 Emmy awards. Season 8 was a success and Netflix realizes this. And D&D are the main reason GOT was the biggest show on the planet.
Ulfie,
Well, it’s always possible a streaming service will go under, since there is increased competition now. It just depends on which shows they choose to produce. Some of Netflix’ original content is pretty poor, so they have to fight the urge just to create as much as possible. There are also some amazing shows they have produced. Probably my favorite is Maniac. I’ve watched it a number of times, and it keeps getting better.
If Netflix makes more shows like these, I think they will be around for a long long time. Of course, these fit my tastes, so I left out some others may have enjoyed, such as Crown. I did watch some of it, but lost interest…
Maniac
Daredevil
Stranger Things (first two seasons… but to be fair I haven’t ventured that far into season 3)
Lost in Space
House of Cards (early seasons) (until it all went wrong for Kevin Spacey)
I won’t list all of the bad ones!!! There are many IMHO, but the latest was “Another Life”, but it was so bad it could become a cult classic. I did enjoy watching alot of the beginning of the season even though it was “designer jean astronauts in space”
D&D know how to make amazing TV. This could be a great partnership, and I’m hoping Netflix adds more shows like Maniac.
D&D got 200 million (100 m each!) that is Ok given that Ryan Murphy got 300m and Shonda Rhimes got 150m. That perhaps the market’s bet on their talent/future at this point – given that GOT crashed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/netflix-just-spent-200-million-for-game-of-thrones-creators.html
This article from the business press looks at the financials of Netflix and speculates if these deals are a good idea. On D&D they say it is less than clear that they are talented enough to merit the money because their writing is suspect – but the analysts are willing to see what they do in the future. It could work out for Netflix…or not!
Netflix has been bleeding cash and trying to generate interest by signing these deals.
It is a big come down from HBO.
HBO”s brand is a high quality, low volume producer. It aims for shows that are both critically well received and loved by fans. It will stay with high quality even if fans are slower to sign up – as in the Wire. The collapse of GOT is not “HBO-like” so it was fairly clear that they would not be re-signed with HBO at the price they may have been asking. (Yes, critical feedback matters at HBO given their quality ambitions!)
But HBO may have trouble on the horizon. It has relied on GOT for too long and needed a strong end to help them establish a strong GOT franchise. This did not happen. Luckily Chernobyl came immediately and saved “face” for them. This was a short series – Deuce and Westworld have not caught fire. Anyway, HBO also has new owners so it is unclear where the new leadership will take them.
Netflix is in trouble already. Its strategy has been high volume of product without being so demanding on quality. So they hire good people at exorbitant salaries and hope they produce enough shows that people will subscribe to see whatever is churned out. I hope it works! I am not a subscriber but will hear I suppose.
Mango,
I have to say I always find your opinions interesting but “collapse of GOT” is far from reality IMHO. I won’t quote all the ratings but GOT got better ratings than ever in season 8. In the end, ratings is money for HBO. I’m thinking by collapse you are referring to the fan critics. Business wise though there was no collapse and I think the vocal fan critics were noisy but don’t represent millions of others who may have enjoyed season 8. There were plenty of fans even here on WotW who appreciated D&D and didn’t react as negatively. And there are fans like me who may have had some criticism when it happened but as time has gone on with some distance really enjoy season 8. I don’t think HBO holds anything against D&D that would have prevented them from signing a deal. D&D after all gave HBO 8 winning seasons of one of the most popular shows in history. And you have to give it to D&D for making an incredible adaptation of the source material. Most of the debate came once they ventured past the books.
I think Netflix probably just had more money they could throw into the deal and perhaps there were other factors as well. I just don’t think HBO holds anything against D&D so I don’t agree that was a factor.
Tron79,
I do not disagree with you on much.
Do you think it ended as well as it could have or was expected to do?
GOT8 fell below expectations and well below its potential. (Even within the season, Epi 1-3 is received quite differently from 4-6.) That is all I meant by collapse. (I could use another term, I suppose.)
Season 8 GOT received heavy negative feedback by the mainstream TV critics in Globe & Mail (Canada), BBC (UK) and almost any respected critic in the US (NY Time, WP, LA Times, Atlantic, New Yorker etc). Some critics did like the season but the response was not what should have occurred in the final season for such a strong series. In the same way, many think GOT5 was a great fall-off from GOT1-GOT4.
I do not think HBO has anything personal against D&D. Just that HBO would not be paying what they may have wanted. This is exactly as it turned out.
Tron79,
Yes, D&D are very talented at adaptations. They also did an excellent job for many years in managing the overall product. They even wrote some very nice original scenes such as the Robert/Cersei scene.
Unlike you, I dislike GOT8 more at time passes. Actually, I disapprove of the nihilism in the end and the breaking of the “narrative trust”.
Tron79,
He lives in imaginary world where somehow the fact that Netflix, Amazon and Disney fought for deal with Benioff and Weiss means that they failed.
Thanks for your response. I think we all come to looking at art from our own perspectives. I won’t argue your reaction. I think we are in agreement about D&D’s talent at adaptations. I see a trend on creating “limited series” and perhaps that’s a better approach for future shows. I can list several limited series that I thought were well done, such as Chernobyl, Maniac, and Hulu’s 11.22.63. I would think GOT is pretty rare where you get about 5000 pages of story source material plus another few thousand pages of books about the world. You have challenges of keeping your cast together through many seasons and hoping they age well and become great actors (for the kids). GOT was the perfect storm where they found Maisie (who really wanted to be a dancer) and Sophie and so many others. I’ve started becoming obsessed with the hype for HBO’s “His Dark Materials”, and I’m already wondering whether Dafne Keen will look too old by the time they get to season 3. And my guess is HDM will be more of a limited series that has a season for each of the 3 books. The challenge with the limited series model is that you have to come up with lots of them!! You won’t be able to bank on 8 seasons if you find a hit. You constantly have to come up with new projects and new source material. My guess is that D&D will produce more in the limited series model where they adapt existing source material for Netflix, but I could be wrong. I think people have different strengths, and perhaps Jane Goldman (in the GOT prequel) will be more creative on coming up with her own stories based on the world guidelines.
Tron79,
It will be interesting to see how their work evolves from here. They are relatively young (age) and relatively young in the industry and have achieved a lot in their short time.
You are quite right that the limited series model is a demanding one. I am not sure what they will learn from the GOT experience (good and bad) but I hope it will make them better at what they do.
For my silly two cents worth – I would recommend adaptations for them. Even then, in the same way they relied on Nina for some great advice on hiring young actors that they add a truly great writer to their stable of persons that they call their team. Some-one very skilled on character building, staying true to the characters and let the story flow from that. GRRM was with them for the first few seasons and it made such a difference! This is needed especially if they want to try creating their own original stories. Do you remember their plan to write a series based on confederacy and slavery? Sigh.
You seem to live in a world where being rude gets you respect. I live in a world where civility is prized. But luckily for us both, there is vast space on this planet for many different sorts of people to co-exist and talk past each other.
Mango,
If ignorance is hidden behind eloquence it’s still disrespectful.
Spinning everything that happens to Benioff and Weiss and GoT as proof of their failure is still insulting, no matter how hard you try to hide it behind nice words.
I choose honesty, no matter how unpleasant it can be.
howtathor,
Actually, Sandor could survive that fall, think Gandalf. The Mountain and Sandor falling through the burning wrecked structures of the Red Keep, the Mountain leading the way, a collapsing roof beam narrowly missed the Hound but takes Gregor’s head off, Sandor determinedly prepares for the impact upon the fast approaching stone floor but suddenly instead of the blackness of death he realizes his brother’s body has punched a hole in the stone flooring, he feels a coolness enveloping his body and as eyes focus, notices the flames from falling pieces have slightly illuminated the darkness and reveal he is falling towards the water filled cistern of the keep, suddenly he’s engulfed by the cooling waters and fights unconsciousness as he struggles to the waters surface.
Please don’t bring GoT back. Every time it comes back it’s a bit less. Pieces get chipped away.
Love this. So true. And not a pretty sight if your red priestess isn’t there to help anymore.
I thought they were only writing for Star Wars, not running the show.
Otherwise this deal would clearly be in conflict.
Wow, I already forgot about Confederates. Talk about backlash!!
Yes, we are in agreement about the difference when GRRM was with them and they had source material. I did enjoy many of their choices once they went past the source. Their tone was different (more comedy for example). I have “wishes” more than criticisms. They have their own style. I was hoping for them to use more of the fantasy elements, such as calling in more of the prophesies. D&D always seemed to go the more straightforward route which blew up all of my awesome fan theories. That’s not a criticism. It’s really just their style of storytelling. There are some in the religious field who I work with who have trouble believing in miracles and go for a more straightforward explanation. Some hate the parts of the bible with a talking Donkey for example and want to take a more literal approach. I personally believe in miracles and I quite enjoy the fantasy elements of the story. As GOT went past the books, I think D&D were less in favor of the fantasy elements and more in favor of the human drama. For example, Bran’s story just wasn’t finished. All of the possibilities of time travel, warging into dragons, and so much more could have been explored. I just don’t think that was D&D’s style. I also was intrigued by the “Fight Club” theory of Arya and the Waif (for example).
mau,
You confuse things. Mango was thinking GoT finish is a failure which is a different opinion than yours, one you may not like but considering the backlash the final season got it may actually contain a grain of truth. Plus art in any of its forms is subjective.
You considering that’s an insult is just weird. Makes you a thin skinned extremely irascible poster who resorts to actually rudeness towards a fellow poster just because it’s not in line with your opinion. You see, Mango didn’t judge YOU or any of the peeps who think it’s a success, Mango said that according to him and the negative critics the show failed. You however judged HIM though in that remark of yours, not the show. Big difference.
It’s ok tho, it’s a world dominated by Trump, he does that all the time so now it’s a usual thing and many peeps think it’s ok. It’s the new fucking normal.
TormundsWoman,
No. He said the fact that they made deal with Netflix means that HBO doesn’t want to work with Benioff and Weiss anymore because they consider GOT to ba failure.
Which is really strange thing to say, but he wants to use everything that happens as proof that supports D&D BAD narrative.
It’s free folk mentality hidden behind nice words.
Sorry for the football reference, but it’s the only comparison I can think of at the moment.
I compare HBO to a team that is good every year and doesn’t feel obligated to pay top dollar to retain players (writers) since they are already in high demand.
On the other hand, Netflix is like the team that sucks every year and is desperate to make a big splash hire in free agency, so they are much more willing to overpay and outbid everyone else for the service of D&D.
I just assume Netflix outbid HBO to a point that HBO wasn’t comfortable with matching. Netflix probably gave D&D more creative control too. I can’t say for sure though. I don’t care enough to keep up with the goings on of D&D post GoT.
Benioff and Weiss can be ruined, forgotten, whatever. I won’t get anything from it. But this weird obsession to actually see them destroyed is strange.
Maybe their careers will collapse in the future. We don’t know. But right now it’s obvious that backlash had no effect on them. Emmy nomination show what people within the industry think about them. The fact that Netflix, Disney and Amazon fought for them shows what their reputation is. The fact that they will work with Lucasfilm and that Disney CEO publicly praised them says what their reputation is. Right now. Will that change? Who knows. It’s up to them.
But to spin all of this and to turn them in some sort of pariahs of entertainment industry is completely ridiculous. You can dislike their work on GoT, but right now, one thing is clear, people from industry don’t take seriously criticism of Benioff and Weiss.
Are they right or wrong to ignore online outrage? Time will tell.
We will see how their Netflix shows and Star Wars movies will do.
mau,
Uh… No. Mango said this:
and this:
Basically I was referring to specifically “collapse of GoT” portion of his original comment, that actually was the thing started the whole Tron79, Mango discussion with “what planet are you on” and to which you added your input judging Mango and not the show. And mind you he said at the price they may have wanted, which could totally be true since contract prices tend to go up. Not sure how up HBO contracts for them could go to be honest.
Anyway, the point is that Mango drawing a conclusion from a conjuncture such as: “D&D were not signed up by HBO at the price they want means HBO thought the final season were a collapse of HBO” (I’m paraphrasing here) doesn’t make your comment less rude to an actual person who may have drawn a wrong conclusion on a show and consequences of its collapse. It is still just an opinion on entertainment business. Unlike yours who’s not referring to the show at all, just to Mango.
TormundsWoman,
If a broke rules of the site they can delete my post, but I will always call out comments insulting to my intelligence. It is ridiculous thing to claim and it’s not the first time he tried to spin reality to fit D&D BAD narrative.
I guess if Benioff gets devorced he will say that his wife hated GoT.
Honest question. Who is obsessed with seeing D&D destroyed? Are we talking about a few people on twitter here?
Mr Derp,
There was this whole outrage on Twitter and Reddit when they made deal with Netflix.
Even some respected YouTubers blamed them for the shows Netflix cancelled.
They want to see them out of entertainment industry.
If Benioff and Weiss are really so bad, let them destroy themselves.
mau,
People say dumb things on twitter all the time. Honestly, it seems like that’s the main purpose for its existence. I wish people would just ignore them and not take them so seriously. I find that’s the most effective way to get rid of trolls. They feed off of the attention that their negative posts get.
Tyjon,
Wow I like that. Is that from the script or did you write it?
Mr Derp,
Hahahaha!
I saw this on Twitter and some of the abuse directed towards D&D astounded me, largely implying sexism (for GOT content) and criticism that they messed up GOT (which I disagree with).
What ever comes I’ll watch with an open mind so long as the content matches my interest just as I likely would with actors from GOT.
In the UK I would imagine (without checking) Netflix is by far the dominant player in the streaming market, Amazon are here but nowhere near as popular. So perhaps Netflix has the money as it’s globally established? Of course I could be widely wrong on that but that was my perception. They do seem to churn out movies and shows with big stars but I find they are hit and miss on quality.
I have to write something. I’ve read a few comments here that made me feel angry today. Angry and sad enough to ask myself is it time for me to stop coming back here. I actually seriously thought it was time a couple weeks ago. But then I started reading some really engaging discussions here at WotW so I kept going. I guess for myself, I’m trying my best to have a starting point. I start with the fact that the people who post here are probably just as obsessed (or passionate) as I am about GOT. Probably many have dedicated countless hours doing re-watches, and others have spent years with the books. Many know more than I do, and I think I know alot. Many others have gone to Comic Cons and participated more directly in the fandom than I have. I have to start with the idea that if they are here, they are here for a reason. I think they love GOT and the GOT world, and I go from that starting point. I’m thinking since they are still coming after the show is over, the fans here really care about the characters and everything to do with the show (and some the books). There are many times I disagree, but I think to myself that the person is passionate about GOT and they might see something that I missed. I may still disagree, and perhaps I see things that they missed. People come from different perspectives. Some come from more of a professional writing background with certain expectations. Others may look at the same thing from a different artistic perspective depending on their own background. What hurts me is when there are comments that sound like the other person’s opinion doesn’t matter at all. And my guess is that the person doing the calling out is also very passionate about their own opinion and they really just want to make a point.
The world may be better if we could all just see each other in person and meet at Ol’ Nan’s pub and hash things out in person. Perhaps strong words and calling each other out are more easily taken in person when you can see the other person’s face and hash it out over a friendly horn of goat’s milk.
I’m going to continue coming back for awhile anyway. I think some are right that it’s hard to get noticed without writing negative things and being provocative, and that can add to the problems of discussing things on the Internet.
My hope is that we can continue talking about GOT and the prequel with each other realizing that the other person may have something to say and may see something when living in their world that we don’t see. They after all must be like us, since they are here still passionately talking about GOT. I start from there.
The Dany stan community on twitter is the worst when it comes to the malice and hatred. Imo, David and Dan are the greatest showrunners of of all time and dominated this “golden era” of television. Season 8 was brilliant as was the entire show from start to finish.
Jack Bauer 24,
You already said that in this thread.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Just 5.5. Come on you have to include 5.8 there… at least!!!!!!
Ten Bears,
Omg I said the same thing haha
Ten Bears,
Opps haha, I guess I should read more comments before responding! LOLs
Dame of Mercia,
I first saw this story on Twitter posted by James Hibberd…. every single comment, EVERY SINGLE ONE was negative, and some were personal shots at D&D which is unbelievable to me. But this is very common on social media.
the collapse of GOT LOL
Mr Derp,
I like this post!
Mr Derp,
People repeat negative comments all the time, GOT failure, D&D didn’t care etc
Its nice to have someone repeat some positives
____
Anyway, im sooo excited to see what they do, and so happy for them! <3 I would like to say as someone who hasn't read the books, yes GRRM wrote the books and ASOIAF so I am not taking anything away from that. But if it wasn't for the dedication D&D had to making this show happen I would have never heard or know about ASOIAF.
So thank you!
Dee Stark,
Very true, but his post wasn’t entirely positive. He managed to throw in a dig at Dany “stans” before repeating the same statement about D&D that he’s made in these threads over and over ever since the show ended.
I don’t view that as being positive so much as I think it’s being divisive in a passive aggressive way.
Agreed. I’ll always be thankful to George for creating this world obviously, but it’s David and Dan that put it on the map for me and brought it to my world. They also continued to give me new content and finished the story for me. They somehow miraculously tied this juggernaut up and also did so brilliantly. I’ll never know how they managed to do it, but one thing is for certain… I’ll continue to rewatch this series until the end of time and I’ll always be grateful. HBO and fantasy genre in general will never see it’s like again.
Winter just came for House Netflix.
mau
Being rude is the new hip trend I mentioned that’s becoming normal. That’s not against any rules.
And Seven forbid anyone insults your intelligence. We’ll never hear the end of it!
Tron79,
I hope you’re not writing that because of anything I might have said re: “what world you live in” comment. It’s not the moment to leave the fandom, you know. ☺️
I do come back myself, I read whoever I can and in absence of news tell Mau he’s being rude. Or Young Dragon that his take on the last two books written is terrible. It’s keeping me involved and I do like to read everyone’s opinions. 😉
Mr Derp,
That’s a good point.
I barely post anymore compared to when the series was active. Heaven forbid I post 2 like comments on this thread. It wasn’t a “dig” either at any character fandom, rather an observation. Where I’ve dwelled on social media, the hatred has come more from Dany’s camp then any other I’ve seen. That’s a fact and not a dig. Again, only from what I’ve seen.
It’s not like I haven’t read a hive mind of negative comments by repeat posters here since the series finished. Which is fine btw, and I’ve never called a single one of them out or commented towards them for it. I think I’m ok with my posts and this is the first and last time I’ll address it, thanks 👍
Thanks for making me laught.
Jack Bauer 24,
IMO, it’s disingenuous to make a point to be “positive” when half of your post is a sweeping generalization calling out an entire group of people in a negative way. If you’re vibe is all about being positive then set a good example and just be positive. Leave the negativity and generalizing out of it.
And this isn’t specifically about you posting in general, so don’t start acting like you’re a victim. You’re repeating the same post over and over again in a lot of threads. I don’t really understand the point in doing that.
Tron79,
Tron I know how you are feeling, I was ready to bale myself. But then I kept hitting posts were some wonderful discussions are happening, and have been really happy to be able to participate in those. Now and then I there is some rudess or remark i am not comfortable with; I ignore those posters and move on, In fact I am doing that with all my social media, Times is just too short trying to discuss with someone who does not know how to listen. I have loved your comments and would be sad if you left. Check out some other posts in the meantime
Thanks ash I was trying to ignore like I usually do, but I couldn’t help it this time. I also don’t want to be the speech or thought police either. But I guess there are lines for me where it starts seeming more personal even if it wasn’t meant that way. I’m sticking around.
ToemundsWoman,
Did we have a discussion about the last two books? I don’t remember.
Young Dragon,
I am pretty sure we did a while back (a bunch of us though, not just you and I) but you were too busy burying someone under the crushing “evidence” of why the last two had lots of filler to give my comment a reply no doubt. It is why remember quite so clearly your preference for the first three. And the decrease enjoyment on the last two.
That or you’re reminding me of someone I had a conversation like that. I hope not though, it would be truly embarrassing to mix posters up. I pride myself on a fairly good memory after all.
Tron79,
btw completly off topic – that bike trip you took in Poland? Was that for the Jewish festival in Krakow? Yesterdays NYT has an excellent full page article about it (in the front pages). Thought you might be interested….
Tron79,
I have those lines too; lately they have become more numerous than not, but I am learning to fight the battles that I can. Glad you are sticking around!
There you go!
🐓🐓
I actually did go to the Jewish quarter in Krakow during the festival! That was a bonus. We actually didn’t even know there was a festival going on until we got there and it happened to be a really major thing. Thanks I will look for the article.
Talking about GOT, I had a real fondness for the Czech people and Prague which was one of the last stops on our trip. There were unbelievable castles. Our tour bus had what looked like the Lannister sigil on the side! Mosaic murals depicting Prague legends covered the archways in the Old Town Hall. One mural showed a beautiful Slavic princess Libuše who had prophetic powers. There was a children’s choir who sang a Czech folk song that reminded me a bit of Jenny’s song. And there was even an armory shop I walked into! Getting back in topic maybe D&D could use some of the Prague legends for a new series.
I actually did go to the Jewish quarter in Krakow during the festival! That was a bonus. We actually didn’t even know there was a festival going on until we got there and it happened to be a really major thing. Thanks I will look for the article.
Talking about GOT, I had a real fondness for the Czech people and Prague which was one of the last stops on our trip. There were unbelievable castles. Our tour bus had what looked like the Lannister sigil on the side! Mosaic murals depicting Prague legends covered the archways in the Old Town Hall. One mural showed a beautiful Slavic princess who had prophetic powers. There was a children’s choir who sang a Czech folk song that reminded me a bit of Jenny’s song. And there was even an armory shop I walked into! Getting back in topic maybe D&D could use some of the Prague legends for a new series.
TormundsWoman,
That sounds like me. I loved the first three books and was severely disappointed with the last two. I don’t understand how Martin can create such complex and interesting characters in Game, Clash, and Storm, but then characters in Feast and Dance that I couldn’t connect to at all. To make things worse, some of my favorite characters were shoved aside to make room for them. Also, a lot of the plots were either repetitive, uninteresting, or went nowhere. Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but I firmly believe Feast and Dance are the reasons we may not see the end of this series.
If this was true, Entourage wouldn’t have gone 7 seasons, True Blood wouldn’t have gone 7 seasons, The Newsroom wouldn’t have gone 3 seasons, True Detective wouldn’t have been renewed for a third season, Six Feet Under would have been cancelled after season 4, Deadwood wouldn’t have been cancelled after season 3, Rome wouldn’t have been cancelled after season 2, etc. The list goes on.
I have no idea what you are trying to say. But that may be the point.
Jon Snowed,
In Belgium (Europe) Netflix is very popular. Here we don’t have HBO and I don’t think many people have Amazon or other things.
Mr Derp,
I don’t see anything wrong with Jack’s post, he’s just very enthusiastic. But he’s always been like that. I’m happy for him that he enjoyed the show. I didn’t like the last 4 episodes, but we all have different taste and there’s nothing wrong with. I really loved Catwoman with Halle Berry (and bought the dvd) while nobody else did, and I don’t like the Godfather while everyone else does. Different people, different taste.
Dee Stark,
Was meaning 5 and a half seasons, so I enjoyed all of S5 and half of S6. Not split down the middle either, I loved the Bran flashbacks, Arya’s storyline before No One, the return of the Hound, and some other stuff I can’t remember (didn’t like the last two episodes — wasn’t a fan of the story in the north or at King’s Landing).
Mango,
You don’t? You made it perfectly clear that HBO wouldn’t give D&D a second chance because the final season wasn’t critically well received because critical reviews were all they care about, yet they continued to renew these shows despite them being a critical failure.
My response just disappeared. I will wait and see if it comes back before trying again.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
That’s too bad… 6.9 and 6.10 are some of the best TV to ever be made and that will ever be made. Oh well, you cant please everyone…
At least you enjoyed 5.5 seasons, which is 55/73 episodes, which is 75.3% of the show… that’s not bad at all 🙂
My considered opinion on the whole series is that it was excellent – I just wanted more of it. There was nothing much wrong with S7 and S8 that more scenes wouldn’t have fixed.
(I’ve now got a strong sense of déja vu. Sure I’ve written this before! 😀 )
And more scenes or conversations that weren’t necessary, but would have been nice. For instance, we never heard Jon talk to Daenerys about Maester Aemon.
Dee Stark,
Dee, I don’t really “do” social media. I haven’t a Twitter or a Facebook account or instagram or anything like that. Having said that, some friends of my age and thereabouts (think GRRM age range) say they find social media useful for keeping in touch with grown-up children and grandchildren or even great-grandchildren (who are scattered not only in different parts of the United Kingdom but sometimes overseas). I am prepared to allow Messrs Benioff and Weiss some leeway in their adaptation of ASOIAF because the book series was unfinished and it can’t be easy to finish the story in such circumstances. I’ll concede that the dramatisation (of parts of the story where there was still source material) DID become a looser adaptation as the seasons went on though I think that when the unfinished books (hopefully) are printed Darth Dany will likely be a feature. Still, I don’t want to post a plethora of overly similar comments. Thinking of unfinished novels, the BBC* will be showing an adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished work Sanditon with some (male) skinny-dipping. I’m pretty sure Miss Austen didn’t feature such a thing.
*Though the BBC have to factor out some if not all the making of their dramas these days (a legacy of Maggie Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister). The days when the BBC had its own company (not sure if that’s the right word in the circumstance) of actors (repertory company?) have long gone.
I may have been wrong to say the BBC drama repertory company is no longer in existence if this blog entry on the BBC site from 2014 is accurate though of course it is a lot smaller than it used to be; I think it’s called the Radio Drama Company now. http://www.bbc.co.uk/soundstart/rdc.shtml
Lots of BBC dramas are produced at least in conjunction with other companies such as “Tiger Aspect” though. I don’t work in the drama industry – I’m only writing from what I remember being aware of from when I was younger.
My take on D&D is simple. They are amazingly good at adapting the well written story/scenario. The first 5-6 seasons of GoT was jaw-droppingly great television. Multiple story lines on two continents, complex characters, dragons, zombies..
D&D handled it all.
However, once they ran out of books, the quality of show dropped significantly. All the way to abysmal Season8, which ruined it all for at least half of fans.
It seems that when it comes to creating an original material, they are just not good at all.
So, my two cents – they will not succeed as Star War producers. At best, they will make some mediocre movies like Episodes 1 and 2.
Deal with Netflix? If Netflix gives them good source material, a hit book series, they might shine. Otherwise, expect something like GoT season 7&8, or worse.
However, the biggest question is how they will combine the two gigs? It seems impossible to me.
Are they the writers for the Star Wars productions or are they hiring other writers and they are the producers (or Executive Producers)?
Tron79,
They will write and probably even direct.
But I think we won’t know anything before Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm will be focused on that movie.
I think main job for Benioff and Weiss would be to make Star Wars popular in China and Asia in general. South America also.
Success of Star Wars depends too much on USA, Canada, Japan and some parts of Europe.
GOT season 8 wasn’t a complete failure. It was an artistic perfection; music, costumes, special effects, electronic process, each and every detail (well apart from the coffee cup) was simply perfect and raised the standards even more than the Lord of the Rings, Avatar and Star Wars.
It did fall short of expectations when it comes to the story, but there are people (many) who liked it a lot. I am not sure that this should prejudice opinions about the entire season though. The bitterness concerns the story, and they are responsible for it, but there are reasons (and very important ones, apart from the ending of the original story) that may have influenced the final product.
I wish them all the luck in the world. I am not sure I trust them enough that they won’t betray their new stories, perhaps I’ll wait and see the reception (I am one of those who love Star Wars).
So long as they have a job, other people have jobs too. That’s important. They are creators. They should create.
Evgeny,
Except most of the content in seasons 5 and 6 came from D&D, and they wrote a lot of original content in the earlier seasons as well, so your post is contradicting itself. Also, writing one’s own story and writing someone else’s story are two entirely different things. Writing someone else’s story
is by far more difficult, and they pulled it off masterfully.
(i) HBO uses selective content strategy. Its brand is that it charges premium to provide a high-end product. It was created in cable TV age to serve a select audience. For film, we have filmstruck (r.i.p) and criterion that are even more selective.
(ii) Recent ATT bought HBO and there are many articles on HBO and its strategy. HBO is under pressure as cable is suffering as streaming grows. You can google if interested. Just two examples below;
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/business/media/att-warner-hbo-streaming.html?login=email&auth=login-email
“”Adding to the conundrum: WarnerMedia, which declined to comment for this article, wants streaming content with mass appeal, the better to please AT&T’s 148 million phone customers. But HBO, the property with the best head start in streaming, thanks to its HBO Go and HBO Now services, tends to attract a select audience.
Occasionally, the network has landed critical successes that also enter the mainstream, like “The Sopranos” and “Game of Thrones,” but it’s not easy to find mass-market hits that suit the HBO brand.””
(I had to remove the link as the post kept disappearing maybe because of the links): From a smaller publication Verge talks about the Larry Sanders shows as the typical HBO show. Small audience, loved by professional comedians and lots of critical acclaim.
(iii) I cannot comment on the list of shows that you have. We would have to research each one. Whether a show was extended, cancelled or whatever depends on the show itself, on the portfolio of shows at the time and other factors such as a HBO decision to see it develop or
if the showrunners want too much money etc.
(iv) My statement about D&D should be read as two joint parts – HBO would not want or need to pay the money that D&D would want. Netflix would be happy to pay it. This is exactly what happened. HBO usually can rely on it brand and reputation and its focus on critically acclaimed work to select shows and survive. Well, usually…the rise of streaming is going to make life hard to HBO as volume counts here.
Gross. these guys should never write anything down other than their names on a paycheck.
Uri,
They ran the biggest show in the world. They have a long career ahead of them.
This is a really interesting read given that D&D have now bailed on Star Wars (announced this week). So seemingly they’ve jumped from Confederate with HBO, to Star Wars and now to Netflix. If I am right HBO put confederate on hold before S8, possibly because they knew they were picking up Star Wars and now they are likely not doing Star Wars to focus on Netflix. It’s great that they are in demand but odd that they keep jumping between projects although presumably on a lot more money now. Could they ever go back to Confederate or Star Wars?
I live in the UK and would say Netflix is way more popular than Amazon, indeed netflix has crushed the country TV/cable networks in terms of entertainment choice – Sky our broadcaster has lost a third of it’s subscriptions in recent years due to Netlfix and IPTV which is massive given it’s previous domination of the market place.
Agree here some of the Netflix stuff like the Marvel (Daredevil especially), Stranger things is brilliant but there is a lot of original content which is terrible even though they get big names associated with those projects.
“We are thrilled to welcome master storytellers David Benioff and Dan Weiss to Netflix. They are a creative force and have delighted audiences worldwide with their epic storytelling. We can’t wait to see what their imaginations will bring to our members,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, told