Let’s cut to the chase!
“Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development.” So says George R.R. Martin in his new Not A Blog post! He states that The Hollywood Reporter story was “largely correct”, and then the author drops the real big news- that the working title for the show is Snow.
GRRM recaps the four live-action “successor shows in development” at the moment and that’s worth resharing here, because it’s easy to forget what’s going on.
- Ten Thousand Ships (aka the Nymeria show)
- SEA SNAKE, aka NINE VOYAGES
- The Dunk & Egg show, THE HEDGE KNIGHT or KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS
- And now, SNOW
Martin confirms, “Yes, it was Kit Harrington [sic] who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/ showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
He also clarifies his involvement. For many fans, this can be a make or break part of the deal, so here it is! GRRM says he is “involved” with Snow. He says that “Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/ consultants to hammer out the show.” That doesn’t sound like day to day involvement (which some fans are hungry for) but a degree of consulting that makes sense on a practical level for a writer as busy as George.
The author reports that, “All four of these successor shows are still in the script stage. Outlines and treatments have been written and approved, scripts have been written, notes have been given, second and third drafts have been written.” GRRM also confirms that “nothing has been green lit yet, and there is no guarantee when or if it will be… on any of these shows. The likelihood of all four series getting on the air… well, I’d love it, but that’s not the way it works, usually.”
And yes, he is still working on The Winds of Winter. The author claims he was “back with Tyrion this past week.”
Visit the Not a Blog post for even more details!
Curiouser and curiouser.
Unrelated, but I always thought Santa Fe looks beautiful and also I would die of heat stroke immediately.
I think out of those 4 shows in development Dunk and Egg and Snow have the best chance of actually being green-lit.
Snow will have Jon Snow, one of the most popular character in the most popular show of the last decade. The script has to he really bad for HBO to pass on this opportunity.
Dunk and Egg is adaptation of good source material.
Nymeria and Corlys shows feel like too expensive and too vague for general audience.
And if they want a show about character sailing around the world they will make a show about Arya Stark.
I loved the Dunk and Egg stories. They are complete stories. You would feel what is like to live as a hedge knight as a opposed to living in a castle somewhere. I’m trying to think of an actor who would play the lead. He needs to be tall! He needs to be athletic but not overly so. Also, Egg could be an unknown child actor if the GOT casting folks do their magic again.
George’s involvement in this and the fact that it’s Kit’s idea is certainly encouraging. I just hope they keep it Kit’s show and no one else from the previous cast shows up. Jon Snow was leaving everything behind and going to start a new life with the wildings so I hope that is the focus and I hope he never goes South. The only person I’d want to see back with him is Tormund and Ghost of course. The rest of the cast should be new and should take him in a new direction. And I expect that what it will be. I am seeing many people online already thinking this is going to rewrite the end of GOT and I expect they will be really disappointed as Kit seemed to like the ending of his arc.
It’s interesting because Kit organised and executive produced Gunpowder which was well made, acted, directed. Also a gritty take on the historical events. I’d have faith in him coming up with the talent to do it well. It’s a chance to show off what was good about alot of GoT.
I have to say this is really surprising on a number of levels. It does make me excited to see where it goes because this is the type of thing I would have expected GRRM to frown upon and not be into. But he sounds more than okay with it.
As I have mentioned in some of the other posts as long as they don’t retcon anything about or from season 8. Regardless of what you think of that final season, it would be a very bad idea to do that.
Consider that even if the show ends up not being made, the fact Kit & GRRM have hammered this out (obviously with the writers) means that down the line there will be a reason to revisit it. Years after GRRM poofs into eternity there will be massive demand for something he gave his thumbs-up to… and this is one of those things.
SNOW will get made someday.
The thing I find strange about all this is that Kit said he was positively done with Jon Snow and characters like him..
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/kit-harington-retires-jon-snow-roles-1234588258/
I imagine that is why he brought the idea to them, not them to him. Because his idea nullifies the fear he had of playing the character again. I imagine this would be a version of Jon Snow who has evolved into someone Kit wants to play again.
I like this part: “but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
GRRM thinks Kit’s team is terrific, that sounds good!
mau
June 23, 2022 at 7:20 pm
And if they want a show about character sailing around the world they will make a show about Arya Stark
Agreed – and HBO may feel that is an option at some point.
Bloodraven
June 24, 2022 at 6:51 am
The thing I find strange about all this is that Kit said he was positively done with Jon Snow and characters like him..
Well, when you’re sitting around the house with nothing but time on your hands, getting back to work on a project you’re pretty sure will be a winner can be very enticing!
I am really excited about Snow. I know they won’t go in this direction because, you know, Jon’s Gotta Brood, but I’d really like to see Jon throw off the early shame of being bastard born and the later shackles of expectation from being reborn through magic and become a freer, more lighthearted person. Think of the fun he and Tormund can have beyond the Wall! Spring is here, life will be less hard-scrabble and those two could really cultivate a mischievous, buddy vibe. Not campy or straight comedy but more adventurous with some fun thrown in for good measure.
Yes! I concur. All of this news is quite encouraging! Kit Harington may have felt that GoT ended with Jon’s story left unfinished – or with continuing stories worth telling.
Bloodraven,
I read last year, that he was unhappy with Jon’s ending. Maisie, who plays Arya of course, she said Kit was told in s3 he was going to kill the night king. He was disappointed. Happy for Maisie. But let down. He never could bring himself to watch the final episodes. May be a way for Kit to correct it, by giving Jon and the fans a new story. I’m hoping George gave the writing team the path. What George has planned for Jon. And maybe some ways to incorporate Northern lore… answer some questions
AE,
I don’t know about that. I think to see what George has planned for Jon, we’d need to get books 6-onward (right after Jon’s death) and that’s looking more and more like a non-starter. I don’t think those plans can be incorporated post-series after all these events have transpired and likely been changed from GRRM’s plans (if he’s figured out those details yet) as they may seem out of place. At this point, though I think some broad strokes are largely the same, I’d consider GoT and ASOIAF pretty different stories. However, I do think a lot of Northern lore and mysteries can be explored 🙂
You wrote: “….However, I do think a lot of Northern lore and mysteries can be explored 🙂”
——————-
[The following is excerpted from my 4:09 pm reply earlier today to Tron79 in the Comment Section to “The Jon Snow Sequel Show: I Have Questions,” with a shout out to you in the endnote]:
…I felt that Jon Snow was left with a lot of unfinished business, and many of his storyline(s) introduced and built up over the first four or five seasons were abruptly jettisoned – perhaps for the sake of streamlining the show for its abbreviated screen time in its final seasons.
I believe there are plenty of lingering mysteries and conflicts that fans would like to see revisited and resolved (e.g., “I’m just a bastard” vs. “I was actually the trueborn son of a loving mother, and heir to the Iron Throne”), and none of them require “retconning.”
All it’ll take is an inspired team of talented writers, and from follow-up articles and interviews it looks like that is exactly what Kit Harington and Big G have planned.
Maybe I will try to retrieve some of the tinfoil theories that I had consigned to the trash heap when GoT ended…like the WWs’ origins, the reasons for their return, and the motives for their genocidal campaign against humanity*; the fulfillment of the “Prince(ss) that was Promised” and other prophecies; Rhaegar’s third child imperative, etc.
All of these loose ends and abandoned or undeveloped storylines could be addressed and tied up in a Jon Snow sequel series without screwing around with established show! canon. And with the Big Kahuna’s oversight, the sequel’s storylines could hew closely to what he’s got planned for the books, as opposed to GoT’s show-only developments in latter seasons, untethered from any source material. (Yes, George, that’s on you.)
* Hi, Adrianacandle! You know where I’m going with this (i.e., my extrapolations from the S6e5 reveal that CotF created the WWs + the recurring “victim vs. villain” inversion theme throughout GoT). 😵💫
This all sounds positive to me. At least it’s not HBO’s idea and Kit doing it for a bunch of money. And GRRM is okay with it too.
AE,
He’s been quoted saying he liked his ending. He’s also clapping and cheering in the documentary when he finds out Arya gets the kill.
AE,
I do! 🙂
I don’t think it will see the light of day. I want it bad, but it won’t happen. It would feel like a season and 10 of GoT however.
That sounds wonderful. Kit clearly cares deeply for Jon’s character and story, so if he feels there’s more to say, and is taking some ownership of telling that story, am delighted to see how it takes shape. Emilia and GRRM having his back so publicly is really positive, and touching.
Is it weird to say that I would be more excited for this than for 10 thousand ships/Corlys Velayrion spinoffs? I would certainly be hyped for this if it gets picked up.
I have no idea where you read that but it doesn’t resemble ANYTHING anyone has actually said.
GeekFurious,
Reply, Part 1 of 2
• Since the subject of Kit/Jon and Maisie/Arya has come up, here’s what Maisie Williams said in a PEOPLE magazine interview published two days ago about the Jon Snow spinoff, and the prospect of reprising her role as Arya someday.
Excerpted from June 24, 2022 PEOPLE magazine article,
“Maisie Williams Is Excited There’s ‘So Much Story to Tell’ in a Games of Thrones Jon Snow Spin-Off”:
HBO is reportedly in the early stages of developing a live-action Game of Thrones spin-off series based on Kit Harington’s Jon Snow.
….
Maisie Williams is just as hyped as Game of Thrones fans are that Kit Harington’s Jon Snow may soon be back on screen in his own series.
“Everything surrounding the story [of GOT] is very exciting,” Williams told PEOPLE exclusively this week while attending the Cannes Lions Festival with Spotify.
We had such a rich show, and there’s still so much story to tell,” continued the 25-year-old actress, who played Snow’s sibling Arya Stark throughout all eight seasons of the series.
“I think it’s really exciting, and I think that Kit is such a phenomenal actor. Him playing Jon Snow was just like a cultural reset,” added Williams, who recently launched the podcast Frank Film Club with Maisie Williams, which is available on Spotify. “I think everything that he touches is magic, and I’m excited to see what it’s going to be.”
…..
Should a Snow-centered series come to fruition, Williams could technically reprise her role of Arya — but would she be open to starring in her own sequel series?
“It’s obviously a very exciting prospect,” Williams told PEOPLE, “so never say never.”
As far as potential storylines that an Arya-focused spin-off could mine, Williams said she has yet “to really discover” what she’d like to see next — but diehard viewers are giving her plenty of ideas.
“I’m still learning so much from fans that I meet … and they’re always recounting the parts of the show that they love, the parts of the show that were meaningful for them and the parts of Arya’s journey that were meaningful for them,” Williams shared. “I feel like I’m learning it all for the first time in a way right now.”
“So I’m still kind of piecing together what I think it should be, what I think would make people happy, and what I think would be fulfilling as well, as an actor, to do some kind of transition,” she added. “We can’t just do the same thing that we did — it’s got to be new. But what are the parts that we would want to take with us and what are the parts that we would do differently? So I think I’m still kind of discovering that.”
Part 2 of 2 (Continued from above)
• As an aside, for those interested in her style choices (i.e., her radically different appearance with bleached eyebrows* during and well after filming “Pistol”), from recent photographs accompanying that magazine article it seems Maisie Williams has reverted back to her natural look:
https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/23/maisie-williams-1-2000.jpg
[Photo of Maisie Williams at Spotify event in Cannes on 6/20/2022]
Many fans wondered why she’d deliberately camouflage one of her distinctive features, her expressive eyebrows. In the words of one perceptive observer: “You have very expressive eyes, Mercy. Wonderful eyebrows.” – Lady Crane, GoT S6e6.
This is so bizarre. Reminds me of what Disney is doing with Star Wars, just take any concept from the original trilogy, throw it to the wall and see if it sticks. But yet, HBO has really taken their time with these prequels and aren’t just in a rush to capitalize off of the IP. So it’s one of two things, either HBO got forced into this by impatient leadership, or Kit’s team really brought them a great idea. Hard for me to imagine what that is, I think we can all agree that Jon Snow isn’t the most dynamic character and works best in the framework of a huge ensemble story. Also, the way the series ended and the response to it, why would anyone want to continue off that? Whatever it is, I couldn’t be less enthused about this show.
If Jon is basically now a Moses figure among the Wildlings, that opens up literally an entire world of potential storylines and imaginative world-building, depending on where they travel to. For example, it’s occurred to me that if Jon & co keep travelling westwards across what is presumably an Ice Age “Arctic”, they could end up walking to Planetos’s equivalent of the Americas. So there’s another giant continent of storylines right there, possibly including some mixture of the Aztecs/Incas/Mayans and their predecessors. Combine this with early Viking transatlantic expansion and you have Jon as “Leif Erikson” too.
Of course, if you want to add some questionable real-life historical behaviour, maybe other people from Westeros and Essos find out about the “new land” too and decide to conquer/colonise it (presumably Jon would object to the conquests, although this being GoTWorld the potential targets won’t necessarily be squeaky-clean either).
Or Jon and the Wildlings could travel down to Sothoryos (ie. “Africa”), another giant continent and obviously a sharp contrast to the Wildlings’ more familiar cold climate. Or they could go eastwards and somehow end up in Planetos’s version of India, China, Japan etc.
I’m just throwing ideas at the dartboard here. Lots of interesting options.
Meanwhile, this comment in GRRM’s own article really jumped out:
Astonishing stuff. Everyone involved sure kept that little revelation quiet very well.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
The finale was the most watched episode in HBO history and, despite your opinions on the character, Jon Snow seems to be a fan favorite, so I certainly understand why HBO would say yes to a series like this. That said, I’m with you in that I’m not very excited for this series. I thought Jon’s story ended perfectly and I will wait to see the plot details for this series before I decide whether or not to watch.
I’m pretty excited about his show. I miss getting lost in the GoT world
AMC made both prequel and sequel of the Breaking Bad. And they are thinking about making more spinoffs.
And no one accussed them of pulling Disney Plus.
I have faith in HBO.
PS:
Just adding some more thoughts to my previous comment: Jon’s future storyline could mirror the Romans’ mythological ancestor Aeneas too, in terms of being an exiled prince who leads survivors of a major war to a new homeland. Like Aeneas, Jon could be shown as eventually founding a new kingdom whose descendants centuries later build an imperial superpower. Again, Planetos’s version of “the Americas” could be a suitable location, but there are of course plenty of other options too.
This is probably all moot anyway, since Kit and GRRM already have a viable idea in mind. It’ll be interesting to see what it turns out to be. I suspect an eventual reconciliation between Jon and Drogon is in store too.
mau,
Absolutely, Jon Snow sign me up no matter what, I don’t care how disappointed i was with the last two seasons.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Jon Snow isn’t the most dynamic character? Is this a joke or something?
Snow is absolutely the favorite character for vast majority of fans of TV show and books alike. I read comments from many heated haters of the show, and even I’m surprised how many of them melted on the thought of having Jon sequel.
mau,
I seem to remember people questioning BCS, it gradually built its fanbase and became an acclaimed show in its own right. The sequel came years later and I saw people questioning that too. Again, they were proved wrong. HBO already have a TV show close to airing, a failed pilot and what, 4 shows in development? BB ended 9 years ago, GOT ended 3 years ago, not exactly comparable
Jenny,
BCS started almost immediately after the end of Breaking Bad. Season 1 aired in 2015. Breaking Bad ended in 2013.
What is not comparable?
mau,
Exactly what I said. BB had a sequel series and a sequel movie 6 years after the show ended. That is the entire BB franchise, the show itself ended 9 years ago. GOT has a sequel and a host of other shows in development, plus a pilot that didn’t got to series. A mere 3 years later. That is where the Disney Plus comparison comes in, and why people haven’t said that about BB (though plenty of people needed convincing about the spin offs)
I meant prequel series, sorry
Jenny,
But that’s just development.
So far Game of Thrones only has one spinoff that will air more than 3 years since the original show ended. Everything else is just development.
And Game of Thrones in general is a show/world that is much better suited for universe expansion than Breaking Bad.
mau,
I think GOT is a victim of its own success in a way. It’s so massive, we know EVERYTHING about it. We know every planned show, when we probably shouldn’t. People get the impression that they are milking the brand too much when most of these shows will never see the light of day. That will change in time. HOT will be BIG, at least for the first Season. I think Snow will happen, Dunk and Egg is likely. But i’m not convinced about the others. Especially that Flea Bottom show, that does sound like scraping the barrel. If Arya makes a cameo in Snow, then I am 100% sure that they will make a show about her too, that is probably the most natural successor to GOT, because it could be about anything. It does sound like too many shows though
This is confusing me… BB got a prequel TV show 2 years after the show ended, not 6 years after it ended. BCS aired in 2015 which is actually sooner than HotD (2022) compared to GoT’s end (2019).
Great news, I would love to see Jon “The King Beyond The Wall” explore strange new lands, seek out new civil– whoops, soory!
Seriously, the vast expanse of land Beyond The Wall holds huge possibilities for new stories. As Jon Snow departed with the Free Folk, we saw the first hint of Spring coming to the Haunted Forest. When the Children of the Forest created the Night’s King in their spiral megalith, the land was lush and green. In the modern era, it was covered in ice and snow. Perhaps the lands Beyond The Wall will continue thawing, and then what long-buried secrets might we see revealed?
Bloodraven,
Toxic masculinity metoo obligatory crap, not the brightest Kit moment.
Jenny,
I agree.
HOTD is obviously happening
Dunk and Egg has popular source material so it is happening.
And obviously Snow because it created so much hype online.
Everything else is probably not happening IMO.
Jenny,
Flea Bottom show is already cancelled. They confirmed it.
Erik, formerly Lord Parramandas,
Sorry, it was a typo and it was too late to change it. They had a prequel series 2 years after it ended, and a sequel movie 6 years after it ended. That’s still a grand total of 2 spin-offs in 9 years. All of which have been well received. They have been very smart about it. It remains to be seen if HBO will make such wise choices. I think HOTD will probably do well, not sure about the other shows in development
mau,
Ah well, I’m definitely not surprised about that. I do wonder why the long night series didn’t go ahead. We might never know. Maybe they didn’t want a whole show dedicated to something the main show dealt with in one episode. I don’t know. Very curious. I’m just waiting for the Arya announcement, maybe a show about Robert’s Rebellion?
With GRRM confirming he’s also involved but that it’s Kit who is driving this I do wonder now about those leaks of a Jon Snow spin off back around 2016 which also came from the Hollywood Reporter. Did the original idea run into a dead end only for Kit now to relaunch it or has this always been on the agenda but was stuck on the back burner due to Kit focusing on other things?
It definitely has the most potential of all GOT spin offs.
Jon Snowed,
I really don’t see how a Jon Snow spin-off has much potential unless most of the story is completely separate from the events in GoT.
We just spent 8 years with him and the White Walkers. Those 8 years culminated with the killing of the White Walkers. Are the White Walkers going to come back now just to give Jon Snow an excuse to be on tv again?
I don’t think you can have a Jon Snow spin-off taking place in the North without the focus being on the White Walkers again, which, again, we spent 8 freaking years on already.
Bringing the White Walkers back would render much of the 8 years of GoT completely and utterly pointless. Please tell me that I didn’t spend 8 years of my life on a story that’s just going to be recycled again.
Jenny,
Robert’s Rebellion is an interesting story, but I think we’ve kind of fleshed this out already in GoT.
Besides, how long could a spin-off possibly last for Robert’s Rebellion? 1 season? We already know the major events anyway. I just don’t think that would be very compelling tv.
I agree it shouldn’t be about the White Walkers but I do think there is an opportunity for a mini series of Jon in the far north. We can still see the aftermath of the WhiteWalkers and also other magical aspects (Wargs/skin changers within the Wildlings etc.). A 6-8 part mini series could work on that basis.
Jenny,
I think Robert’s Rebellion is probably happening at some point. There are enough informations about that to make 2-3 seasons of the show, while general audience still doesn’t know enough about it from the show, because they didn’t spend a lot of time on that.
Original show not mentioning Dance, RR or Dunk and Egg that much, could really work well for HBO in the long run.
We’ll see what they decide to do. I just have a hard time seeing what this show would actually be about or why it needs to happen.
Spending 8 years on the fate of fictional characters is a very long time. I’ve given Jon Snow 8 years. He’s taken up enough of my time. There needs to be a VERY compelling reason to make this show. It CANNOT be another Star Wars where it’s just content for content’s sake, which is what it sounds like some fans here want. That would destroy GoT just like the legacy of Star Wars is now a joke.
Fireblood87,
Yeah sure.
Plot: Jon broods some more, has nightmares and visions about Ygritte and him killing Dany while freezing his ass off in the far north.
Tormund calls him back to Hardhome, now Sweethome, a thriving town and haven that trades with Braavos and the other Free Cities.
There, one of the last crows awaits him: “Jon, Queen Sansa needs your assistance”.
Tormund says Jon should go to Winterfell to discuss, since Gray Worm is probably dead anyway by now, but Jon refuses to break the promise he made. He stays in the True North, and sends Tormund instead.
Spring is almost over, Summer is just around the corner.
The Wall has melted and turned into long, stretched lakes like those in the Scottish Highlands. A little bit more and they shall turn into a Narrower Sea.
But the wildlings lord and chieftains claim land and castles at both side of the former Wall that once divided them.
Jon advocates for the wildlings to be left to occupy the old empty castles like Last Hearth or the Dreadfort, Karhold, Deepwood Motte, Bear Island. But Sansa’s council disagrees and distrusts the Wildings.
Meanwhile, Bran sends Brienne to Winterfell as well, because reasons (Drogon?)
At Winterfell, Tormund and Brienne meet.
The Big Woman & the Giantsbane. Make it happen.
Actually, screw Jon Snow, let’s call this GIANTSBANE, THE GINGER THAT RIDES!
Koalafter,
The Wall can’t melt because it’s already down and hasn’t been rebuilt.
Now that I think of it, some of it probably still exists, but there’s a giant hole in it and there’s no real reason to have a wall anymore anyway now that the WW are gone
Mr Derp,
Yeah, the Wall outlived its use pretty much already.
Still, we don’t really know its state or conditions after the White Walkers demise.
Koalafter,
I personally couldn’t care less about the state of the Wall. I don’t feel the need to have a tv show for that, but ymmv.