HBO developing FOUR Game of Thrones spinoffs!

13

According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, HBO is in the process of developing four different ideas from various writers to keep Westeros on our screens for the foreseeable future.

All the details that we know thus far are below the cut!

According to the article from Entertainment Weekly:

HBO isn’t revealing any story details at this time other than that the shows “explore different time periods of George R. R. Martin’s vast and rich universe.”

Who’s in charge? Well, here’s a little surprise: contrary to what they’ve said before many times, D&D are back for more.

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have previously said they do not plan to be actively involved in any follow-up projects, but it turns out they will be attached to the new shows as executive producers. “Weiss and Benioff continue to work on finishing up the seventh season and are already in the midst of writing and preparing for the eighth and final season,” HBO said in a statement. “We have kept them up to date on our plans and they will be attached, along with George R. R. Martin, as executive producers on all projects. We will support them as they take a much-deserved break from writing about Westeros once the final season is complete.”

Four projects are under consideration, with A Song of Ice and Fire author Martin being personally attached to two of them. They are:

The show ideas are from Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island, Fox’s Minority Report); Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class) along with Martin; Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale, L.A. Confidential); and Carly Wray (Mad Men) with Martin.

It’s worth noting that we’re not guaranteed a spinoff by a set date. “There is no set timetable for these projects,” HBO says, so there could be a gap between the end of Game of Thrones and this new series.

Exciting news! Readers, which writer are you most intrigued by (besides Martin!), and which project do you hope they’re attached to?

Follow Oz on Twitter.

193 Comments

  1. As I said in my other comment on the other thread, I see that D&D will remain as executive producers which I think is awesome!!!

    I AM SO HAPPY AND EXCITED!!!!!!

    Contrary to most, I would love to see what happened 17 years before season 1

  2. GRRM as exec producer? Lol! There goes whatever hope there was for the last two books.

  3. Were it another network, I’d be incredibly concerned about quality.
    Given it’s HBO, I feel like there’s a better chance anything that makes it out of the development stage to actual production will be decent.

  4. Dee Stark:
    As I said in my other comment on the other thread, I see that D&D will remain as executive producers which I think is awesome!!!

    I AM SO HAPPY AND EXCITED!!!!!!

    Contrary to most, I would love to see what happened 17 years before season 1

    Roberts rebellion would be amazing!!!!
    The tourney at Harrenhal
    The Kingsguard
    The battle at the trident
    The madking and all his madness and glory XD
    Robert and Ned their prime
    the siege of storms end
    The sack of kingslanding!!!!!

  5. Executive producers is often an honorary title without too much influence or effort. they might read the script and write notes, or participate in couple of production meetings, but it usually means they won’t be actively involved.

  6. Roberts rebellion
    Dunk and Egg
    Aegons conquest
    Aemon the Dragon knight
    The blackfyre rebellion

  7. Dee Stark,

    Actually I’d say Roberts Rebellion is the most popular idea for a spinoff, especially with the TV audience.

  8. Fantastic news! I would love to know who the writers are, but I doubt HBO will reveal their names before the shows are greenlit. I don’t think we’ll actually get 4 shows, but maybe 1 or 2 depending on how HBO likes the ideas.

  9. I love it!!!

    Its like HBO has been watching us fans squabble over what spin offs we’d like to see and they just said “Screw it! Lets do it ALL!!”

  10. I don’t wanna see Robert’s Rebellion. Not. One. Bit. There’s no drama. We know all of what happened. We know all of how it happened.

    I would rather see the Dance of Dragons. I’d rather see stories from the Wall and beyond. I’d rather see something of Valyria. I’d rather see Dunk and Egg and the Blackfyre Rebellion.

    Oh well. As someone has already said, given that it’s HBO, it should be good…minus Vinyl.

  11. There are good writers involved, hopefully at least one comes to fruition!
    Keep working HBO 🙂

  12. All great writers. I am happy to see who they have working on these ideas. But they’re likely to pick one and run with that. I kind of want it to be Dance of Dragons or something like that but it will likely be a prequel to the current timeline so we get familiar characters like a young Ned and so on.

  13. Hold the door?

    Ack I’m for Dunk and Egg, but what else will happen on that timeline? Blackfyre rebellion would be awesome!

    They could even mash timelines if they wanted…

  14. I do feel dance with dragons will be a great show. Not many attachment to current plot but with same kind war ravaged period and more dragons and lot of plot points to develop

  15. The Story of Sir Aemon the Dragon Knight would be the best news I can hear 😀

  16. Absolutely The Old Rebellion of Bobby B! Definitely the most accessible given the current program.

    Bobby B crushing Rhaegar with a war hammer! Gasp and gahhh if only it could still be Mark Addy hahah. Can’t we hologram him back into Westeros?!

    Dunk n’ Egg would be great too! 4 spinoffs! Seven hells.

  17. Lord Parramandas checking in! All I can say is… GREAT NEWS!! I have trust in whoever will be developing them.

  18. We’ve had previous discussions on this topic but this certainly makes it look like we can start to get more serious. When it comes down to it I don’t really care what story or period they choose to do as long as they do one and do it well. If they do… that would eliminate our issue of what to with WotW after GoT!!!! 🙂 Yeh!!

    So… they want four scripts and I reckon most consider the same four periods. I have my four periods anyway that I’d expect would be considered, and my order of desire for those:
    1. Battle for the Dawn during the Age of Heroes, Azor Ahai, the last hero, Others, CotF, First Men, giants, ice spiders, building of the Wall. Exciting, magical, mysterious stuff that’s full of fantasy and sci-fi – pulls people in – more crazy shit that makes GoT unique.
    2. The Dance of the Dragons. Targaryen civil war with dragons.
    3. Robert’s Rebellion. Closer to actual historical fiction sword & board battling than sci-fi/fantasy. We know the characters involved, the events and the results. Rather anti-climactic imo and lots of work to tie it directly into GoT.
    4. Dunk & Egg. Fear again that this would prove rather dull.

    Just my opinions. Personally, if they’re going to follow their biggest hit with another story in the same world, they have to go big again. They can’t follow an explosion with a sparkler…

  19. I’ll take any possible GOT spinoff (and many more than one), but my favourite would be Robert’s rebellion – I can never get enough Rhaegar & Lyanna, Young Ned, Young Jaime… It’s not important, for me, not knowing what will happen… or I’d never be interested in any TV/ film adaptation of novels I like.
    I’m surprised D&D still want to stick around (seriously, did they actually accept?), but I’m glad about it.

  20. I’d rather see something not-Targaryen related, there’s so much history in Westeros before the ~300 years of Targaryen rule, which were dramatic for sure, but imo not as interesting as The Age of Heroes with Bran the Builder, Lann the Clever, house Durrandon and the rest… or the Night’s Watch history etc. I’m not sure how that’d do as a series, but that’s what I’d like to see 🙂
    And She-wolves of Winterfell, don’t know when it’s supposed to be set, but I’d watch the hell out of that!

  21. Would LOVE to see a spinoff on origin of the Targaryen dynasty/Aegon’s conquest of Westeros!

  22. Shy Lady Dragon:
    I’ll take any possible GOT spinoff (and many more than one), but my favourite would be Robert’s rebellion – I can never get enough Rhaegar & Lyanna, Young Ned, Young Jaime… It’s not important, for me, knowing what will happen… or I’d never be interested in any TV/ film adaptation of novels I like.
    I’m surprised D&D still want to stick around (seriously, did they actually accept?), but I’m glad about it.

    They are only executive producers 🙂
    i’m glad they’re involved

  23. So it sounds like they’ve basically put out a ‘Request for Proposals’ to a select stable of potential showrunners. They’ll be competing to see who can best conceptualize and sell a prequel. Might even be more than one team bidding on the same concept.

    Seems to me that they could do an almost endless Dunk & Egg series with a modest budget and an emphasis on characters and humor, side-by-side with a more spectacular and costly CGI-heavy mini-series with lots of battles and maybe dragons.

  24. Sundae,

    1. Yeah. “She-Wolves of Winterfell”, whatever that’s supposed to be, sounds cool. I’d watch that.

    2. All of the addicts worrying about post-S8 withdrawal … can rest a little easier now. ?

  25. I don’t want Robert’s rebellion because it was too recent. While it would make for some good battle scenes I’d rather see events that happened long ago and the people in them are no longer alive.
    My 1st choice is Dunk & Egg
    After that in no particular order:
    Dance of the Dragons
    Aegon’s conquest
    the Long Night

  26. Matthew The Dragon knight,

    I’m not familiar with what an executive producer actually does, I’m sure it’s less than they are doing now, but I thought they were going to take a break from anything GOT related. Well, a pleasant surprise, I must say!

  27. Hopefully we get to see more of Dorn and learn more about the sand snakes. Imagine the young snakes as tough little girls! Like young sassy lady mormonts but with a little but more bite to go along with that extra sass!

  28. Ten Bears:
    Sundae,

    1. Yeah. “She-Wolves of Winterfell”, whatever that’s supposed to be, sounds cool. I’d watch that.

    2. All of the addicts worrying about post-S8 withdrawal … can rest a little easier now.

    She Wolves was a working title (unlikely to be used) for the next Dunk and Egg story.

  29. Despite my happiness over the fact that this site will be on and used for year to come, I’m on the fence a little about the many different writer they’re bringing. It feels like it will be another ‘Vinyl’ mess. I’d like them to keep it tight with D&D, just them heading ’em. The’ve made the magic that is GOT, lets not mess the setup.

  30. Clob,

    I think you can probably rule out any spinoff that would stray too far from the series’ iconography, e.g., the Dawn Age stuff. GOT’s brand is medieval fantasy, and any series will want to have the houses, sigils, etc. available, even if we don’t see all of them at any one time.

  31. Clob: 4. Dunk & Egg. Fear again that this would prove rather dull.

    Arya and the Hound on the road aren’t dull. Neither are Tyrion & Bronn, Jaime & Bronn, Jaime & Brienne, Brienne & Pod, Arya & Gendry/Hot Pie, Tyrion & Varys, Tyrion & Jorah, Theon & Yara… Even Jorah & Daario had their amusing moments, although I find Daario mostly a waste of time.

  32. Wow!!!

    Interesting that D&D will still be involved, in a more “oversee everything” style.

    I would prefer a time in the past: something dramatic set in the golden age of Valyria. Or the very distant past, during Azor Ahai, Last Hero times. Or set in the future.

  33. They certainly don’t plan to let me live lol.Whatever they put out as long as it is well made I am down for it.I love the universe after all and Martin has some really interesting ideas and time periods which would make good Tv.Also I’m happy for D&D they deserve the break and to get money from this.

  34. As far as I’m concerned this news that D&D/GRRM will be involved as executive producers, initially at least, is huge! HBO trusts them now with being able to deliver a show of high standards, one that has earned them a record number of Emmy awards. As a massive fan of GoT I’m thrilled they’ll have a hand in getting another started, hopefully. The more people involved again would seem to make it more likely it will have the same “feel” and look to it… as opposed to examples we’ve seen of movies based on old tv shows recently. Ish.

  35. Please, let it be Robert’s Rebellion.

    And seriously, book readers watched the show despite knowing the story from the books.

    I don’t see how Robert’s Rebellion could be any less enjoyable just because the outcome’s know already.

    My history lessons never spoiled my enjoyment of the Tudors, The Crown or Rome either.

  36. Shy Lady Dragon:
    Matthew The Dragon knight,

    I’m not familiar with what an executive producer actually does, I’m sure it’s less than they are doing now, but I thought they were going to take a break from anything GOT related. Well, a pleasant surprise, I must say!

    just think of it as them overlooking everything.

  37. Posted this in another thread, but it’s more appropriate here….

    Robert’s Rebellion probably has the juiciest potential due to the amount of major characters and plots involved, however, I’d rather they not go there because we kind of know about this story already. I’m not sure that I’d want to tune in every week to a show where I already know what’s going to happen, especially if the remaining 2 seasons of GoT connect all of the dots that are still out there like why Rhaegar and Lyanna ran away together, had a child, etc…

    I just hope now that a prequel is definitely going to happen it won’t require the current show to hold back any reveals in order to keep plot points in a potential prequel a secret.

  38. Thoughts on the writers, though one should note that you never know when somebody with an unimpressive record will do something great, and vice versa:

    Jane Goldman’s film screenplays, of the ones I’ve seen, have been very sharp and funny.

    Carly Wray was a staff writer on Mad Men (my personal choice for the smartest-ever TV drama), and just looking over her credits she was involved in some great episodes, though you never know how much of that was her versus Matthew Weiner or the rest of the team. But I’d be interested to see her take.

    Brian Helgeland basically collaborated on one classic movie, and hasn’t done anything notable in the 20 years since.

    Max Borenstein’s main writing experience seems to be the burgeoning monster movieverse (which, I enjoyed both of those, but they don’t really suggest particular skill at character drama) and a TV show I didn’t watch.

    Kosten,

    The biggest problem with Robert’s Rebellion, in my mind, is that most of the characters (particularly the returning characters, notionally the big draw) simply don’t do much of anything if you’re aiming to last multiple seasons. Lyanna, for instance, just runs off with Rhaegar and then hangs around a tower for a while until she dies (an event we’ve already seen).

  39. I’m kind of Glad they didn’t reveal who the three eyed raven is now ^^
    would be very interesting to see him appear in one of the spin off series 🙂

  40. Firannion: Arya and the Hound on the road aren’t dull. Neither are Tyrion & Bronn, Jaime & Bronn, Jaime & Brienne, Brienne & Pod, Arya & Gendry/Hot Pie, Tyrion & Varys, Tyrion & Jorah, Theon & Yara…Even Jorah & Daario had their amusing moments, although I find Daario mostly a waste of time.

    No, not dull in bits and pieces – for many of those. However, basing an entire series on such just doesn’t have the kick in comparison to something with the scope of ASoIaF. As I wrote, I’d probably enjoy whatever they do if it’s done well, but I’d prefer they start with something that has the opportunity to be as big and exciting as GoT.

  41. Sean C.:
    Thoughts on the writers, though one should note that you never know when somebody with an unimpressive record will do something great, and vice versa:

    Jane Goldman’s film screenplays, of the ones I’ve seen, have been very sharp and funny.

    Carly Wray was a staff writer on Mad Men (my personal choice for the smartest-ever TV drama), and just looking over her credits she was involved in some great episodes, though you never know how much of that was her versus Matthew Weiner or the rest of the team.But I’d be interested to see her take.

    Brian Helgeland basically collaborated on one classic movie, and hasn’t done anything notable in the 20 years since.

    Max Borenstein’s main writing experience seems to be the burgeoning monster movieverse (which, I enjoyed both of those, but they don’t really suggest particular skill at character drama) and a TV show I didn’t watch.

    Thanks for this ^^ the only writers I know of is Max Borenstein and Jane Goldman’s

  42. This is very off-topic, but I learned to play “The Rains of Castamere” on my piano. So if anyone is interested, here is the link to my video. BTW. I’m an amateur at playing so the video might not be perfect…

  43. My FanBoy Wish List:

    1. India Eisley as Lyanna Stark (sorry Aisling)

    2 & 3. They’ve already got Robert Aramayo and Luke Roberts to step in as young Ned and Arthur Dayne.

    4. Natalie Dormer as young Olenna. (Partly because I miss Margaery, but mostly because Natalie D bears a striking resemblance to a young Diana Rigg.)

    Let the dreamcasting begin !

  44. Aegon The Conqueror and his sisters wives conquest!
    Dance of the Dragons!
    Dunk and Egg stories!

  45. I’ll take more GoT goodness, but anyone else not as excited about a spin off? I’m invested in the characters and story we currently have, and I just don’t know if I’ll be as interested in a new story.

  46. Shy Lady Dragon: I’m not familiar with what an executive producer actually does

    It’s a pretty broad title. There’s really no one singular job description for it. It can range from someone involved in the day to day production to someone that merely listens to ideas and gives feedback. I think Spielberg got an EP credit on Super 8 and his only involvement was after JJ was telling him details about two different projects he was working on Spielberg suggested he combine them into one. If I had to guess based on previous statements from D&D they will probably fall more towards the latter side. They will probably be available to read the scripts and give feedback but probably won’t be involved in writing or the day to day production.

  47. Do you think it would start with a modest budget, or get around the same budget GoT has now?

  48. Great news that D&D will be involved! I would love to see anything involving strong characters, particularly females; and I’d love to see a female writer. Great news! Thanks, WotW!

  49. I think I would rather see things that have only been hinted at in minor ways. I’d be most interested in what caused the doom of Valyria. The Blackfyre Rebellion would be awesome, but I’m saying that prior to having read TWOW and ADOS. My feelings might change after reading those.

    I would watch Robert’s Rebellion based on the quality of GoT, but I really actually don’t want to see that made. As Dany’s handmaids would tell you about that story, “It is known.”

  50. I hope they’re miniseries or something. Otherwise that’d be a tad excessive! I can’t get excited until GoT is actually done, to be honest. ☺

  51. Pigeon:
    I hope they’re miniseries or something. Otherwise that’d be a tad excessive! I can’t get excited until GoT is actually done, to be honest. ☺

    Same. I’m more excited about a Season 7 trailer then a spin off.

  52. Personally I would love to see Robert’s Rebellion but you can’t really get a multi-season series out of that. Maybe a movie or miniseries at best. The problem with a spinoff is they can’t really do anything as big and epic as the current show without going way in the past or way in the future but then you don’t get any direct ties to the current show. I have little doubt HBO can produce a spinoff that will still be really good but I doubt it will have the same kind of appeal GoT currently has with a general audience.

  53. This is very exciting news! I know it’s probably unlikely but I’d love it if any of them involved some of the mysteries like the Doom of Valyria. But I’m honestly happy for anything!

  54. Jack Bauer 24:
    I’ll take more GoT goodness, but anyone else not as excited about a spin off? I’m invested in the characters and story we currently have, and I just don’t know if I’ll be as interested in a new story.

    The game of thrones/Song of ice and fire universe has a ton of brilliant and engaging characters to fall in love with ^^ they really can’t go wrong with picking a piece of story in this enormous universe we call Westeros <3

  55. hexonx,

    I second this, but am very interested to see what HBO comes up with.

    I’m definitely open to a prequel, but I suppose I’m a bit jaded from all of the crappy prequels that have come out the last decade or two.

  56. Ten Bears,

    I’d love to see Natalie Dormer as young Olenna! She should be slightly different than Margaery to show it’s a different person, not just different clothes and setting, but I think she could do this.

  57. Ten Bears: 4. Natalie Dormer as young Olenna. (Partly because I miss Margaery, but mostly because Natalie D bears a striking resemblance to a young Diana Rigg.)

    Ten Bears,

    Well she has already played her own twin in that horror movie in the woods she did recently, so there’s precedent for this to potentially work 🙂

  58. Jack Bauer 24: Same. I’m more excited about a Season 7 trailer then a spin off.

    I’ll be excited when they’re further in the works as something to look forward to in the same universe once GoT is done, for sure.

  59. I would love to see a young adult version of GoT. A Beverly Hill’s 90210 style show with Tyrion as a kid in Casterly Rock? Lots of court gossip and messing with turtle stew…

  60. I’d expect at least one of the spin offs to be a Sequel to GoT.

    Set it 20 years after GoT ends and you could even have some familiar (if any survive) characters in it.

  61. Jack Bauer 24: Same. I’m more excited about a Season 7 trailer then a spin off.

    I’m sure this is true for all of us. Well, more excited for the actual S7 and S8 at least. There has to be some excitement about this possibility though. I think many of us have already contemplated ‘life after GoT’ and expect some post-series depression. It certainly would help when the finale credits roll if there’s already a go on a new series in the same world. That’s why I don’t totally care what period(s) they choose to do. Anything is better than nothing and it gives us topic to continue to discuss here. 🙂

  62. Shy Lady Dragon,

    Absolutely ! Different hairdo, different clothes, and different makeup and voila ! Natalie Dormer = Young Olenna.

    And if you ever want to see Natalie Dormer’s versatility, check her out in CBS’s “Elementary”, as Irene Adler to Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes. She guest-starred in four or five episodes including “Risk Management”, “Heroine”, and “The Woman” in S1; and “The Diabolical Kind” in S2.

  63. Lady Bird:
    Firannion,

    Except there are no living dragons during Dunk & Egg time.

    I meant two different series potentially being produced simultaneously: one ongoing with Dunk & Egg, not needing CGI; another short-term and bigger-budget, designed more for the part of the audience that wants battles and monsters.

  64. I’d like to see old Valerian in it’s prime and see the reason why it fell and became what it is today…

    Another good story is the one Arya and Tyron Lannister were talking about at Harrihall in season 2. The Targaryan King with his sisters riding the dragons and destroying Harrinhall.

  65. I liked dunk and egg but as Clob stated, I fear this may be underwhelming directly following GoT.

    Aegon’s conquest would be perfect for me. We will get our dragon dose while simultaneously glimpsing the seven kingdoms pre-dragon conquest.

    *****listens to self****** OOPS! I’m hoping for a GoT redux!

  66. Given the amount of time, money, and craft that have been put in on the development of the Dragon CGI, which will no doubt be perfected even further in the final two seasons, I would think a show that is Dragon heavy, either way back to the Doom or the Targ Dynasty related would be under heavy consideration.

    I would also love to see something that involved the First Men and COTF

  67. Ten Bears: Natalie Dormer as young Olenna. (Partly because I miss Margaery, but mostly because Natalie D bears a striking resemblance to a young Diana Rigg.)

    I just saw a movie with Diana Rigg’s actual daughter in a fairly major role, in Their Finest! ( In fact, we were just talking about that movie on another thread.) Rachael Stirling: She played Phyl, the wisecracking lesbian co-worker. I had no clue – she didn’t look much like Dame Diana to me, or even her younger Emma Peel self.

  68. No One:
    Ryan Neuner,

    More info in these articles.

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-hbo-exploring-four-follow-up-series-1000251

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-spinoffs-5-possibilities-next-phase-westeros-1000252

    http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/game-of-thrones-spinoff-hbo-1202409434/

    Interesting to see that in the Variety article Season 8 is expected to have between 6 to 8 episodes.

    Has that been discussed much already or is that somewhat new information/speculation?

  69. Hmm, I’ve changed my mind… My first choice for a new series would be centered on a Lyseni pillow house and the sexy hijinks the ladies get into. Lets focus on another region of the world. 😛

  70. By the time GoT/ASOIAF (putting an optimistic spin on the last 2 books seeing the light of day eventually) is completed won’t the viewer/reader know what happened in Robert’s Rebellion in retrospect, though? I haven’t read the Dunk and Egg (or any other of GRRM’s side projects) stories so can’t judge them but at least it would be something not already covered profusely (I know Joffery referenced Ser Duncan the Tall in series 4, in I think the episode before he (Joffers) was bumped off) in GoT. For me the events of Robert’s Rebellion are a bit like a puzzle, or working out the guilty party in a whodunnit*; like wondering was Lyanna abducted or did she go with Raegar willingly (which of course was answered in season 6 I know). The components of the puzzle will be answered (I imagine) by the end of the TV show so I’m not sure I want to see familiar territory covered again.

    Now I do enjoy GoT but there is an old saying about it being possible to have “too much of a good thing”. I quite enjoyed the BBC’s “Merlin” – quite a different show from GoT as it was family-friendly (in the sense that it was intended to be watched by all the family including younger children) but after it finished the same showrunners followed up with “Atlantis” which was very much the same formula and it didn’t really work and the series was cancelled after series 2. I hear there is to be a series of “The Wheel of Time” novels and a film of “The Dark Tower” will be released this summer. (I haven’t read either of those series). Is it possible there might be too much fantasy in the media and people would lose interest except the hardcore fans? Time will tell I guess.

    * For non-native English speakers “whodunnit” is a slang word for a murder mystery story. I imagine most non-native English speakers know the word but I thought I’d mention it just in case- and hope I don’t sound too much like a school-ma’am.

  71. 4 possible spin offs!!! (Seven hells)
    I think the reins of castamere would be also great to witness, along with many other ideas others have listed above. What also could be great is to follow a lesser known house like the telltale series. Whatever they might be what a time to be alive

  72. The best thing about this, is it provides more opportunities for GRRM to get distracted with other projects and never finish ASOIAF.

    This is okay though, since the books are just a sloppily-written draft. GOT is the finished product.

  73. Whoa. Reins of Castamere spinoff? Now that’s interesting. A young Tywin Lannister! Who would be the protagonist in the story?

  74. Extra Stark, Please: I don’t wanna see Robert’s Rebellion. Not. One. Bit. There’s no drama. We know all of what happened. We know all of how it happened.

    I agree. Prequels are almost always bad ideas in part for the reason that you mention, but also because the grand finale should be devised to culminate a story, not to set up one!

    I am lukewarm on this. I don’t really care about “Planetos” or fake histories. However, I do like the general type of story that GRRM and B&W like to tell. So, if they can make a good sociopolitical drama that happens in this universe, then I’ll enjoy it. If it is just “1001 ways to kill another Stark,” then I probably will not care too much.

  75. Ryan Neuner,

    *turns red with embarrassment* I can’t believe I commented that when the writers are literally in the article! That’s what you get for trying to be the first commenter without reading the article first when you’re supposed to be doing work in class! My apologies.

    I like Goldman, Helgeland, and (obviously) GRRM as writers. Not too familiar with the others, but I’m sure they’re good if HBO has commissioned them to write.

    I wonder if Cogman or Hill would want to write for any of the shows, or if they will be done after Season 8.

    But this does make me worried that GRRM has loss interest in finishing ASOIAF, at least in the foreseeable future. Though maybe his involvement means he’s finally finished Winds (knock on wood)!

  76. I am thinking if Martin is involved with one of the story ideas. His will be stories that are original ideas that have not yet in published/written form. Think of it, if we were in 2010 and his spinoff idea will be the expanded form of the Rogue Prince/Princess and the Queen

  77. Oh, how I would love to see Aegon’s Conquest on-screen. (With Charlie Hunnam playing him, please)

  78. I’ve said it before, but I have absolutely no interest in a Robert’s Rebellion series. If they’re going to do something it has to be fresh and interesting; RR is a bit too much of a rehash to me, and I agree with some others that we know too much about it.

    I genuinely hope they make something fantastic, but it’s not going to be easy. I love Better Call Saul, but The Hobbit films, not so much, so we’ll see.

  79. Ryan Neuner:
    Fantastic news! I would love to know who the writers are, but I doubt HBO will reveal their names before the shows are greenlit. I don’t think we’ll actually get 4 shows, but maybe 1 or 2 depending on how HBO likes the ideas.

    The show ideas are from Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island, Fox’s Minority Report); Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class) along with Martin; Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale, L.A. Confidential); and Carly Wray (Mad Men) with Martin.

    I imagine – or at least I hope – that these proposed showrunners would be doing at least some of the writing, like D&D and other great producers. I love, love, love Kingsman and A Knight’s Tale!

  80. Also rumored to be in development is a game show, “Who Wants To Be Azor Ahai?” and a prequel sitcom, “Margaery, The Teenage Skank.”

  81. So my guesses.

    The Dance of Dragons – one of the two GRRM is doing.

    Aegon’s Conquest

    Dunk and Egg (though I have a feeling GRRM said recently that this wasn’t something HBO was looking at, will try to find it). If this did go ahead I could see the first couple of seasons being about their early years, Season 3 Egg becomes King and Season 5 would end with Summerhall.

    Post GoT Setting.

    If the plan is to get three or all four of these up and running I can see them having shorter seasons than GoT had but show more than one of them in a year.

  82. The way I see it
    1-the dawn of westeros
    2-the age of the first men
    3- the age of valyria
    4- Roberts rebellion

  83. Shy Lady Dragon,

    This is what a Executive Producer does – “The role of the Executive Producer is to oversee the work of the producer on behalf of the studio, the financiers or the distributors. They will ensure the film is completed on time, within budget, and to agreed artistic and technical standards.”
    So basically they are I would say a leader in a show, make sure everything gets done in the time provided within the budget provided, making sure no one goes crazy and follows the plan agreed upon, helping the Showrunners with things and with their experience in GOT probably giving advice and being their mentors if they need them to.

  84. Jack Bauer 24,

    It depends on whether it’s a limited series or they plan on making it a long running show like GOT, a limited series will get a bigger budget because it’s just one season. A new show however will probably get a more earlier season GOT budget as they need to make sure it will be a hit like GOT so they don’t invest in something that falls flat and waste their money.

  85. Mel,

    In some cases an Executive Producer can just be an honoury title and the person has no influence or say in the running of the show.

  86. Ten Bears,

    To be honest I wouldn’t see Natalie Dormer coming back to GOT at all, she wanted to get out of it for two years. Natalie doesn’t like being tied down to a show as it doesn’t let her try different things. She wants to do movies now, and she’s done a lot of medieval/Tudor roles so she wants to do more variety so she doesn’t get stuck Being typecast.

  87. Bob,

    That is true but I don’t think that’ll be the case for D&D and I definitely would see them helping the new Showrunners oversee the project with their experience. HBO wouldn’t say they’ll start it after D&D get their deserved break if they were simply honoury titles.

  88. Mel,

    Yeah,i agree,why would they say they will have a break if they were barely going to be involved in the new projects,for GRRM for example they didn’t say anything which suggests he is the one who is going to have a more honorary role .

  89. Jack Bauer 24,

    Most likely a few years at least,GOT was been in developement since 2007 but they didn’t get a pilot order until 2009 and then a series order in 2010 .

  90. I can’t see them do Aegon the conqueror or Robert’s rebellion unless it’s a limited series aka one season than it’s over. They would never get the budget for all that CGI and battle scenes for a long running show. There is a reason we can count the number of “big battles” GOT has done in the show and they skipped heaps of them or shortened them to one single fighting scene, a TV show will never have enough money for it.

    That’s why Dunk and Egg, or perhaps a kind of Targaryen history will be better for a long running show.

    I also found it pretty funny that there were about 20 or so articles on this topic I found and all of them had a picture of Dany on them. There is definite a good chance Targaryen’s will play a main part in whatever prequel goes forward.

  91. I wouldn’t mind something based in Asshai, seems a mysterious place…although not an entire basis for a show.

    “West of Westeros” starring Arya Stark.

  92. Extra Stark, Please:
    GRRM as exec producer? Lol! There goes whatever hope there was for the last two books.
    He’s probably had the last books written for some time, I imagine he’s holding onto them until the series finishes on tv,

    Miky:
    Hopefully we get to see more of Dorn and learn more about the sand snakes. Imagine the young snakes as tough little girls! Like young sassy lady mormonts but with a little but more bite to go along with that extra sass!

    I honestly couldn’t think of a more boring topic for a spin off, Who wants to watch some little bastard daughters with an attitude for a spin off lol, I can see it now, the new got spin off is……….bad pussy in westeros, season 1

  93. Miky:
    Hopefully we get to see more of Dorn and learn more about the sand snakes. Imagine the young snakes as tough little girls! Like young sassy lady mormonts but with a little but more bite to go along with that extra sass!

    Well, that sounds only slightly less fun than a Frey/Tully wedding….*slits own throat*

  94. Sansa’s Knight,

    –The war between the Children of the Forest and the First Men leading to The first Long Night (Azor Ahai myth) and the building of The Wall

  95. Sean C.:

    Brian Helgeland basically collaborated on one classic movie, and hasn’t done anything notable in the 20 years since.

    Just wanna push back a tad on this. Helgeland is about as A-list as they come. He is amazing at tough adaptations and earned the hell out of his Oscar for LA Confidential. I’d put him on the same level as somebody like Ted Tally when it comes to adaptation. He’s had longstanding collaborations with top tier directors like Clint Eastwood and Paul Greengrass and is in crazy high demand. He just signed on to adapt Torso for Greengrass as an example. Mystic River, Bourne Supremacy, Robin Hood (the Ridley Scott/Russel Crowe one), Man on Fire… i mean these are huge Hollywood big studio films. Did you really mean to say he hasn’t done anything notable in 20 years?

    He’s arguably the highest profile name on the list.

  96. Robert’s Rebellion is excluded. It is part of ASOIAF, Martin considers this time period as strongly related to the story told in the books, while the series we’re talking about would “explore different time periods of George R. R. Martin’s vast and rich universe”.

  97. Well,out of the list of writers and their mostly terrible credentials,Carly Wray is the only one that looks promising.

  98. Great surprise news, concerning the writers, their previous work and strengths…Jane Goldman/GRRM = Dunk and Egg, Ms Goldman seems to be exceptional at buddy action comedies…Carly Wray/GRRM=Aegon’s Conquest, MS Wray’s dramatic ability to intertwine the interactions of females with males points to a series with strong female characters…Max Borenstein=giant fantasy, epic stories grounded in realism, I’m leaning to War for the Dawn/Age of Heroes when the great houses were founded…Brian Helgeland=Sherlock of Westeros who travels each season to a major city to solve baffling crime (KL, CR, HG, OT, SS, WH, WF)

  99. This was some bright and welcome news at the end of a long, hard day!

    Obviously the big news is that HBO has four potential spinoffs in development at once. I’d be surprised if more than two of those were ultimately greenlit – at least initially – and we may not see the first of those for several years, if ever. But it’s awesome to see that HBO is willing to actively explore so many potential ideas. Hopefully the best creative vision wins out.

    I’m intrigued by all of the writers who are attached to the reported projects, particularly Carly Wray, whose credited episodes of Mad Men were excellent (with the necessary qualifier that Matthew Weiner was the dominant creative force on that show). But ultimately, I’m not going to put too much weight to the writers attached at this stage. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss famously hadn’t worked in television prior to Game of Thrones; there wasn’t a mountain of prior credits to suggest that they had the ability to be wildly successful shepherds of a series that would one day become a dearly beloved, critically acclaimed, award-winning global phenomenon. (I was a big fan of Benioff’s novels – The 25th Hour and City of Thieves – and most of his movies as well, particularly The 25th’s Hour‘s film adaptation, but Weiss’s resume prior to GOT was relatively light). But they had talent and drive, a clear vision, passion for the material, and the intuition to hire a phenomenal cast and crew to help them realize it. Lo and behold, the results having been spectacular!

    (While the lion’s share of the attention that Benioff and Weiss draw obviously tends to focus on their writing – which I think is excellent – their producing skills are superb, and are a critical reason why Game of Thrones has become so wildly successful. Running the largest and most ambitious production in television history is no mean feat).

    As for the two potential spinoffs that Martin himself is reportedly involved in writing, my guess would be those are likely Dunk & Egg and The Dance of the Dragons, since those are the two for which he already has a good amount of written material ready to adapt. I certainly wouldn’t rule out Martin wanting to craft a new original story for the screen set at a different point in his world’s history, but I doubt he’d undertake that project until he finished his ASOIAF novels – a marker which certainly doesn’t seem anywhere close to imminent.

    I agree that Robert’s Rebellion, the Blackfyre Rebellion, Aegon’s conquest, and Old Valyria are also possibilities.

  100. Let’s think outside the box a bit.

    Can’t we have a detective series starting Kristofer Hivju and some of bald dude as a Thenn where they solve crimes north of the Wall? Tormund could gripe about “fucking hating Thenns” like once an episode.

  101. The complete story of Nymeria would be most excellent. There is a ALOT to develop there that hasn’t been told or hashed out a million times. Old Valyria (w/dragons), the Rhoynar, conquering Dorne, Martells, 10000 ships, so much room to expand and largely unknown outside the fandom.

  102. Northern Ireland is going to be getting so much work, and getting so much of HBO’s money, that they might as well rename the region “Northern Westeros”.

  103. I have said it before and will say it again ..
    Dunk and Egg is the only spinoff that seems possible ..we will have targs and we will have intrigue ..we will have court drama…
    We will have characters like Aemon.,three eyed raven ,old nan,ghost of high heart,barristan ,young aerys and tywin and baby rhaegar and even walder frey making appearances… They can go to any kingdom which mean we can get introduced to other regions for a single season ..
    And it will provide answer to what really happened at summerhall and Citadel’s conspiracy to bring down targs
    And there won’t be dragons so it won’t cost them that much ..

    OR if they are ready to spend and invest that much in a spinoff by having dragons ..
    Then dance of dragons and aegon’s conquest is the obvious contenders..I mean who wouldnt like to watch the battle between daemon and aemond at God’s eye …the most badass death scene GRRM has written till date ..

    Roberts rebellion – I don’t think it will happen there is really nothing new in it

  104. Steve Snow,

    Valyria’s conquest of the Rhoyn and Nymeria’s exile would be my favorite choice too. It seems like it would be a pretty epic story that they could get quite a few seasons out of without it becoming stale and repetitive. It could have occasional big exciting dragon battles, but not be completely dominated by constant expensive CGI action scenes. It could have a variety of different places to visit, political negotiations, fighting, etc.

    The other options mostly seem like they would be better as one or two season mini-series stories rather than a long epic, though I supposed they could expand on any of them if they really wanted to.

    Dunk & Egg would be interesting, but it doesn’t seem to have quite the epic scope of Game of Thrones, so it might be a bit of a letdown to many people. Robert’s Rebellion would be kind of cool to see, but we already know the basic outline of what happens (though that was also true of book readers for the first few seasons of GoT, and it was still fun to see on screen). The Dance of the Dragons would probably be ridiculously expensive to make, with all the dragon vs dragon combat.

    Aegon’s conquest might make a pretty good series, but to put it in the proper context, I think they would also need to show the Targaryen migration from Old Valyria to Dragonstone, and then the Doom of Valyria, which would be pretty cool except that there’s a century long gap between that and Aegon’s conquest. Maybe they could compress the timeline for the show, or work it into some kind of “100 years ago” prologue, or maybe they could show it in flashbacks, but I think it still wouldn’t be as interesting as Nymeria’s story.

    Aegon shows up with dragons, and he wins, and he wins some more, and his enemies surrender. It would have lots of cool special effects (dragons happening to Harrenhal), but I don’t think it would be a very suspenseful story. Nymeria on the other hand struggles through a lot of hardships to find a home for her people, and that makes a more interesting story in my opinion.

  105. I must be the only one in the WHOLE world who wants to see a standalone single episode based on the greyjoy rebellion, I just wana see thoros with his flaming sword and jorer mormont first over the breach 🙂

  106. I don’t want to be pessimist, but I am not looking forward, especially with D&D as executive producers, they ruined GoT with useless crap and with a lot of awesome content cut out from the show. If it was D&D from season 1 and 2, I would be looking forward.

    I hope they don’t touch Dunk and Egg, these novellas aren’t completed yet, Martin still plans to keep them going, he mentioned on Not A Blog he wants to write some sixteen to eighteen of these tales.

    If they are going to make spinoff, make The Dance of the Dragons, The Conquest, Robert’s Rebellion, Greyjoy’s Rebellion, First Blackfyre Rebellion, Faith Militant Uprising, The Bleeding Years (Century of Blood). the War of the Ninepenny Kings, maybe some cool stuff from the Age of Heroes, I mean, there are a lot of stuff they can do without messing around with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (The Tales of Dunk and Egg).

  107. Dunk and Egg is awesome and it can be really popular if they do the right thing, imagine seeing the Tourney at Ashford (people would also see more Targaryens, when they were still rulers), you will witness a trial by seven, then you go to the Sworn Sword (my favourite so far) and see Dunk going single combat with the Longinch, then there will be the Tourney at Whitewalls and you will see the failed second Blackfyre Rebellion, Dunk fighting Black Tom, we will see Bloodraven.

    The only thing I am against it is because Martin didn’t finish the tales, there are more to come according to him, so I don’t want them ruining the future of these novellas.

  108. Dee Stark,

    Yep, same here. I’m up for a prequel. I’d like to see things like the Lannister family before Tyrion because I’m curious about Joanna and how things changed after her death. Tyrion would obviously be born at some point during the show, maybe the end of season one or in season two. In fact you could get a whole lot just out of Tyrion’s childhood because he’s such a well developed character. I’d like to see young Ned, young handsome Robert, Mad King Aerys.

  109. Eddard,

    So if you think D and D ruined GOT since season 2,why the hell are you still on this website with season 7 on the horizon ? Also what is that awesome content that they cut from the show,garbage travalogue and useless filler characters ?

  110. I think many are mistaken thinking the spinoffs will be based purely on characters and stories GRRM has written. I would say this will probably be more similar to what George Lucas has done with Star Wars, selling the rights to your “world” and allowing others to create new characters and stories in them. I’m sure some of the spinoffs will be somewhat based on what GRRM has written or referenced in the books but I think they will mostly will be new original stories. And I find that much more interesting than a Roberts Rebellion miniseries.

  111. Sunfyre,

    By “notable” I meant “good”. The Ridley Scott Robin Hood movie was junk, for instance (a classic case of adapting a property by removing all the things people expect and like about it). I had overlooked Mystic River, which was solid, but otherwise his resume since L.A. Confidential doesn’t impress me.

  112. Ten Bears:
    My FanBoy Wish List:

    4. Natalie Dormer as young Olenna. (Partly because I miss Margaery, but mostly because Natalie D bears a striking resemblance to a young Diana Rigg.)

    During RR? Olenna is like in her 80s on the show now… so that would make her in her 60s during RR, so you want a 30ish actress to age up 30 years to play that part…. sorry, never going to happen… or did you have a different story in mind?

  113. Casso,

    That’s exactly what I tried to post but for some reason my post wouldn’t take. Give me the war between the Valyrians and the Rhoynar. Fire magic vs Water magic. Would be SO EPIC. L.O.T.R. type epic ness.

  114. ManderlyPieCompany:
    I think I would rather see things that have only been hinted at in minor ways. I’d be most interested in what caused the doom of Valyria. The Blackfyre Rebellion would be awesome, but I’m saying that prior to having read TWOW and ADOS. My feelings might change after reading those.

    I would watch Robert’s Rebellion based on the quality of GoT, but I really actually don’t want to see that made. As Dany’s handmaids would tell you about that story, “It is known.”

    I like the idea of Blackfyre Rebellion in the books, but the show hasn’t done anything with it, they stripped it all out actually. I hope the little Varys subplot in the books lead to a secret Blackfyre heir (so to speak) it would be a great tie-in to a lot of GRRM short stories and resolve that sub-plot nicely… clever.

  115. Casso:
    Steve Snow,

    Aegon shows up with dragons, and he wins, and he wins some more, and his enemies surrender.It would have lots of cool special effects (dragons happening to Harrenhal), but I don’t think it would be a very suspenseful story.Nymeria on the other hand struggles through a lot of hardships to find a home for her people, and that makes a more interesting story in my opinion.

    Right, many of the known GOT stories and legends would make for better 1 off mini-series or movies. Many are not flushed out or have a large scope to them – which is what many TV fans have come to expect. One of the major gripes are the dragons (some on the direwolves) in that they are not used enough!

    I also think Aegon’s Conquest would be a little boring – lots of one-sided battles, and your main leads are not very sympathetic – who would you root for? The ‘savage’ Kings fighting endless wars with each other, or the 3 Targs who swoop in on weapons of mass destruction and basically burn and destroy anyone who doesn’t take a knee. No one in those stories seems like ‘good’ people you want to root for (at least not to me), not that it is strictly necessary, but it helps. This might make an interesting movie, with lot of destructive battles, but not a series.

    Nymeria is a good choice as the story line is so vague, that there is a lot a writer could add to embellish that basic story line – and like you mention, it is more interesting to see someone have to struggle to achieve their goals – and their is a clear goal (find a new home for her people). Only negative, it is about Dorne – and they are not fan favorites on the show – would the general audience be interested in their origin story?

  116. Im all in for anything involving the First Blackfyre rebellion. The Redgrass Field, Daemon, Bittersteel, Fireball, Bloodraven amd his Ravens Teeth. Thats the battle I want to see.

  117. I’m late to the party, so I don’t know that there’s a whole lot I can add…

    I second the posts about wanting to see Nymeria and not necessarily wanting to see Robert’s Rebellion; the former is an intriguing story of which we know little with lots of potential for political drama, while the latter is already very well known and would feel like little more than a giant flashback (to me, anyway).

    I would most love to see Old Valyria and the onset of the Doom, though. There is so much potential in developing and showing Essos! So many places we have seen only in passing, or merely heard of: Asshai of the Shadows, Yi Ti, what are now the Nine Free Cities, etc. Among other things, I would love to see the founding of Braavos and the Iron Bank; I do realize that was hundreds of years before the Doom, but hey, that’s what flashbacks are for. Essentially, I would really enjoy seeing not only what caused the Doom itself, the spark for the central story we now know and love, but also what shaped the lands and cultures that, in turn, shaped the characters we now know and love. Hope that makes sense.

  118. I think the stories would be best off in one-off movies or mini series at most. I do not think people are willing to invest in another long-running show when the main story comes to closure. It’s bound to be different, especially without characters we have come to care about.

    It did not work for The Hobbit to have a similar sized filmseries and desperately adding characters from the LOTR films to make it more appealing to the fans of said films did not help either. At least, that is my opinion.

  119. There’s a lot of reasons for why Robert’s Rebellion won’t be a good idea for a prequel,the fact that like other people said we know most of the details of the story,the fact that the two main characters are very bland and will require the side characters to carry the show,the fact that there will be endless comparisons of the new actors and the old actors that portrayed the characters in GOT and trust me that will be very messy and finally GRRM himself said he’s not interested in a RR prequel so unless HBO somehow convinces him to do it,it won’t happen .

  120. Now Blackfyre Rebellion is something that i want to see, i mean sure like RR we know the major players and how it concluded but i feel they can do more with that then they can do with Rhaegar and Lyanna’s love story,no offense to those who like them but i just never found them very interesting .

  121. These are the best spinoff ideas I gathered from Reddit:

    – Jorah the Explorer
    – Two and a Halfman
    – CSI: Braavos
    – Ice Wall Truckers
    – Dornish Shore
    – The Bachelorette: Sansa Stark
    – Imp My Ride
    – The Iron Price Is Right
    – Bolton Ramsey: Hell’s Kitchen
    – Blackwater Baywatch
    – Better Call Khal
    – It’s Never Sunny in Winterfell
    – How I Met Your Khaleesi
    – Keeping Up with the Karstarks
    – Everybody Loves Renly

  122. Kosten,

    Exactly!!!! Also they need characters we already know if the want the show fans (who haven’t read the books or the lore ) to keep watching. And the can start with young Tywin and Aerys becoming enemies ,Joanna’s death,the rains of Castamere ,Cersei and Jaime,Lysa-Petyr-Cat,the defiance of Dunskendale. Bradons affair with that northern Lady (don’t remember her name),the war of the ninepenny kings,Steffon Baratheon’s death.It will be awesome to see howJaime, the boy who wanted to be ser Arthur became the smiling knight ,how Petyr became Littlefinger and Aerys lust for Joanna.Lots of battles ,lots of drama and great characters!!!

  123. This is cool news! It’s nice to know that the we have not seen the last of the GoT world.

    As for possible subjects for the spin-offs, I feel most of the possibilities are well suited to be made as anthology series rather than the normal drama spanning seasons.

    > A lot of people seem opposed to seeing Robert’s Rebellion, I would be interested though. The book readers already know a lot of the back story, but the show only viewers, who probably form at least 80% of the viewership (?), are really not familiar about most of the details. All they know is that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna which led to war and that Jaime killed the mad king because he wanted to burn a lot of people. Beyond this, they really don’t know much, which is why I think RR is a good option. It won’t be all about just Rhaegar and Lyanna, there is Tywin vs. the Mad King, Jaime and Cersei, Jaime teaming up with his idols Arthur Dayne and Barristan Selmy and their adventures with the Kingswood Brotherhood, the friendship of Rhaegar and Arthur Dayne, Ashara Dayne and Ned/ Brandon, the Southron ambitions which seemed to involve an unprecedented level of alliance involving atleast 5 major houses, whatever actually happened and was meant to happen at the Tourney of Harrenhal, why Rhaegar did what he did, maybe even Mance Raydar’s story at the Wall and beyond. There’s so much material here!

    > Dunk and Egg, I hope not because events happen on a scale that is nowhere near what the viewers have come to expect from Game of Thrones, no dragons, no big battles, very little political scheming. I am not sure a Dunk and Egg series would hold the viewers’ interest for long.

    > The Dance of Dragons is probably the best option in that regard, it has everything – a lot of scheming and plotting, even more dragons and battles involving dragons. The problem would be that it might prove too expensive for even HBO.

    > I would love to see any spinoff which expands on the world building, the original Long Night or Nymeria’s journey ( including the Valyria vs Rhoynish wars) or the doom of Valyria. I also agree with the others who said that Aegon’s conquest wouldn’t be that interesting.

  124. I think it likely Dunk and Egg is one of those being considered, given that there are three successful novellas to work from. I love those stories, and it would be great to see them on screen. I also like the idea of the following –

    – The Court of Aegon IV and/or Daeron II (father/son tension, court politics, the early days of Dorne being part of the Seven Kingdoms, the Great Bastards through to the First Blackfyre Rebellion and the Battle of Redgrass Field – this would compliment Dunk and Egg and give us a background to their story)

    – Nymeria’s conquest of Dorne

    – The Doom of Valyria and/or the Foundation of Braavos

    – Aegon’s Conquest

    Robert’s Rebellion is something I could see them getting two limited seasons (8/10 episodes per season) out of. Yes, we will likely know the basic sequence of events etc by the end of GoT, but knowing the outcome of the Tower of Joy fight didn’t make it any less spectacular. If anything, watching it will be all the more tragic knowing how it is going to play out.

    A lot will depend on what they are after – multi-seasons of similar length to GoT? Or limited seasons to 1 – 3? Do they want to focus on the political (non-dragon) aspects of the histories, or the magical (dragons, CotF)?

  125. If they do Robert’s Rebellion then if in the future somebody goes back and looks at these shows (kind of if people like me play catch up with “Deadwood” or something similar – which I haven’t yet) and sees the RR show before GoT – well GoT would be to some extent “spoiled” for them. When rumours about a GoT tie-in circulated before and Maester Aemon said “Egg I dreamed that I was old” on his deathbed I did wonder if that was a hint we might learn more of Dunk and Egg (though it could just as feasibly be a nod to book readers as MA’s death is different in the books).

    Now I’ve never seen any of the modern “anime” series but I remember some short films on the TV from when I was very young that were told using silhouette figures (which is an art form used in India and Indonesia I believe – could be in other places that I don’t know about also). The artist was called Lotte Reiniger – there were stories from sources such as The 1000 Nights I recall. I wonder if an anime formula would suit a GoT spin-off (not a jokey cartoon but a serious animated story).

    I’ve seen some of the fan casts for Robert’s Rebellion on the internet and some of them have (to me) been a bit “out there” and then I remember that fan casts are a “fun” thing so I shouldn’t be judgmental. I think that if any of these spin-offs comes to fruition the showrunners may very likely go the way of having people who have the acting chops but aren’t necessarily household names like they did (mostly) with GoT. If I look at videos on the internet about GoT (which I’m trying to do less of as I have “real life” things to do) I try to avoid the Season 7 “spoilery” ones, and among the non-spolery ones I chanced on Teflon TV’s alternative casting videos I haven’t always agreed with him, in fact I’ve probably disagreed more than I’ve agreed, though I usually lurk and don’t post but it can be interesting to see another person’s “take” on the characters.

    If they do some sort of Targaryen backstory they will have to fork a lot of money out on VFX for the dragons – not to say light blonde wigs for the Targaryen characters (I know there were some darker haired characters when the Targaryens intermarried which was rare I understand) – unless they are very lucky and find a supply of very light-haired actors who have the “acting chops”.

  126. Alba Stark,

    Well the political aspect will be surely cheaper and i think HBO will prefer that,usually spinoffs aren’t as popular as the shows that they originated from,even Better Call Saul,as great as it is,it doesn’t even have half the fanbase that BB had and granted it’s not exactly the same type of show that BB was but still,for a more perfect example take Fear the Walking Dead which is a spinoff of TWD,the most popular show on cable tv,barely pull 3 million viewers,unlike TWD which even at it’s lowest pulls 10 million people .

  127. viki,

    •. Young Olenna doesn’t have to be circa Robert’s Rebellion. I was thinking about The Queen of Thorns story to Marg about how she blew off the pinch-nosed Targaryan, and seduced Luther instead. Whenever that was is fine by me. As long as we can see Natalie Dormer again.

    •. Another suggestion, courtesy of Arya:

    “Visenya Targaryean was a great warrior. She had a Valyrian steel sword named Dark Sister.”

    ( As a non-book reader, I’m vaguely aware that the whereabouts of Dark Sister remain somewhat of a mystery. ….Something about it last being seen in the possession of 3ER/ BloodRaven?)

  128. Ten Bears,

    Edit (for the sake of accuracy), Arya’s quote from S2e7:

    “Visenya Targaryan was a great warrior. She had a Valaryan steel sword she called Dark Sister.”

  129. JamesL,

    You make a good point. I could see at least one of the potential spinoffs being an original story – perhaps featuring some of the characters who have appeared in Game of Thrones, perhaps not. I don’t know precisely what the details of HBO’s deal with George R.R. Martin looks like, but I’d be surprised if there’s a clause that specifically forbids them from creating completely new stories set in his world. It’s possible, of course.

    You cited Star Wars as a model, which I think is great. However, it is worth noting that the two spinoff films that Lucasfilm has greenlit so far have focused on a well-known historical event that immediately precedes the events of the original film (the theft of the Death Star plans in Rogue One) and a well-known, beloved character (the young Han Solo movie). The two prospective projects that are most heavily rumored to be next in the pipeline – an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie set between Episodes III and IV, and a bounty hunter film featuring Boba Fett – fall into a similar category.

    Many fans, me included, would like to see Lucasfilm make a film set far away from the events of the main Saga – Knights of the Old Republic being a popular example. But it seems that even in such a vast galaxy, they’re a bit reluctant to venture too far away from known quantities at this time. I’d be surprised if HBO didn’t have some similar concerns. A spinoff starring all-original characters that isn’t based on one of Martin’s established historical events strikes me as extremely unlikely, at least for their first spinoff project.

    Traditionally, spinoff series tend to be built around a popular character from the main series, but as things currently stand, the only prospective series that would feature characters from Game of Thrones in major roles would be a Robert’s Rebellion series (sure, Bloodraven could be in a Blackfyre series, and a snot-nosed Walder Frey could cameo in Dunk & Egg, but those wouldn’t be the calling cards for such projects). The potential benefits of and issues with a direct prequel RR series have been covered already. So that leaves the aforementioned historical spinoffs (The Dance of Dragons, etc.) or a sequel series centered around one or more of the survivors.

    I agree with some of the other commenters who have stated that a sequel series is one of the less likely approaches HBO might take – not in the least of which is that it would require the writers attached to such a series to know which characters will survive Game of Thrones. But it’s not a possibility I would dismiss entirely. I’d actually be eager to see what it might look like.

    Perhaps my dream spinoff series, “Salladhor Saan Sails the Summer Sea”, isn’t impossible after all! 🙂

  130. Watch them greenlight Robert’s Rebellion first lol.Even though not as interesting for the hardcore fans I think it could be big draw for the tv audience.Especially if they start early with Tywin and Aerys as young people and see his descent into madness.It depends on how it is executed but I don’t think the fact that they know who survives would make it less interesting.Maybe it’s because I love historical shows but it doesn’t bother me at all to know the broad strokes.

  131. Jared,

    The only way i would be interested in a sequel series is if it’s set in 100 years after the events of GOT,otherwise i don’t want the adventures of the son of Jon Snow or some other stupid crap like that,it just smells of pandering like that vomit inducing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book was,it would also ruin whatever ending the main series will have as it wouldn’t be an ending in the first place . Also good luck paying the main cast to come back,they are going to need it .

  132. Dance of Dragons and/or Aegon’s conquest would be great but then CGI costs with them dragons mean we may not see them at all.Robert’s rebellion will be there.

  133. Gerion Lannister on his quest east to find the House Lannister Valyrian steel Sword Brightroar. Borrow from Homers Odyssey and send him through the smoking sea, past Qarth and into Yi Ti, the Five Forts and Asshai in the Shadow Lands; get really fantastical about it. GRRM barrows from so many historical figures and blends them into his world so i think this would be great to have an Odyssey set in ASOIAF. His decade long journey could conclude with his return just after the conclusion of the books/ show to a world that has changed more than he has leaving it unrecognizable.

  134. Rygar,

    Damn straight. And that’s only the start of the wacky adventures he’d get up to.

    Genghis Khan,

    Oh, I fully agree that a sequel series that’s set too close to the events of the main series would be creatively risky, and the chances of them getting many of the major stars that the show has minted to return are slim. Most of them will want to pursue other projects in film and TV, and they’ll have richly earned that right. I was more thinking about what HBO might like to do, based on traditional spinoff parameters. I’d watch a sequel series, but it would certainly not be my first choice. (My entreaty for a Salladhor Saan series is meant as a joke. Except not really … )

    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child … yikes. I wasn’t opposed to the concept of a story set “Nineteen years later”, but what they did with it was a big swing and a miss. Going overboard with the Time-Turners was an awful idea.

  135. So am I understanding this correctly? They’ve got four separate teams vying to come up with the best idea ? And Martin is involved with two of the four teams?

  136. I find sequels more interesting than prequels, of which we often know the story and the ultimate fate. Someone (Firannion?) suggested West of Westeros, which sounds good to me. I’d like to see something that combines beloved characters, drama, humour, surprise and lots of action. All it takes is a little imagination:

    The Wolf and the Dog–Further Adventures of Arya and the Hound. In the aftermath of near-Armageddon, Westeros descends into crime-ridden anarchy. Both highborn and low are saved from fates worse than death by a vertically mismatched pair of itinerant, masked vigilantes who crack wise as they crack skulls. Whenever they ride to the rescue, they cry, “Hi-Yo Silver, stick ’em with the pointy end.”

    The Mantis–Thanks to a script typo, Stannis the Mannis Baratheon actually escaped death by Tarth Vader. Now she chases him through time and space crying, “Off with his head!”

    The Imps Delight–A Tale of Tyrion Lannister’s efforts to grow prize-winning wine in the ruins of Westeros. He gets in trouble with the law when it’s discovered that his wooden crate of Grand Cru is actually where he’s keeping his sister as revenge for her boxing him in so often.

    Sex and the Citadel–Westeros’s only institute of Higher Education opens its doors to females and eunuchs. Mayhem and yucks result.

    The Red Woman–Melisandre travels through time at Lord of Light speed and finds herself in an powerful affair with Vladimir Lenin.

    The Sopranos–Titillating saga of the lives and loves of eunuchs.

    Northern Exposures–Arya Stark teams up with Lyanna Mormont to become sheriff and deputy of Cicely Alaska, bringing law and order, laughs and general badassery. Their nemesis is Petyr Baelish, AKA Littlefinger, a charming but devious crimelord with a wandering accent and a monopoly on jetpack service in and out of the state.

  137. viki,

    Dorne was “not a fan favorite” once we got bad poosey and terrible accents. Remember Season 4 when Oberyn embodied Dorne? Yeah, good stuff.

    Opening the series in Old Valyria with dragons, building Old Valyria and the Targaryens as a minor house there amongst legions of Dragonlords, building the political intrigue of the expansion of Valyria, establishing the Rhoynar, their people and religion, Nymeria, Wars, conquest, 10000 ships, fleeing to the Basilisk Isles, landing in Dorne, another wedding (Mors Martell & Nymeria), the conquest of Dorne, the exile of the noble lords of Dorne to the wall, Dawn and House Dayne, so many stories. I will be disappointed if this doesn’t happen.

  138. Stark Raven’ Rad: Someone (Firannion?) suggested West of Westeros, which sounds good to me.

    ‘Tweren’t me, but it needs to happen – if only so someone can discover chocolate and bring it back to Westeros, for the most delicious of bittersweet endings.

    I like all your other ideas as well!

  139. Shy Lady Dragon:
    Matthew The Dragon knight,

    I’m not familiar with what an executive producer actually does, I’m sure it’s less than they are doing now, but I thought they were going to take a break from anything GOT related. Well, a pleasant surprise, I must say!

    Executive Producer is a very fluid title; it’s the title they have now on GOT; in TV all “showrunners” are executive producers, but not all executive producers are “showrunners”. I’m sure they wouldn’t be the showrunners in the new series, but rather be executive producers in the same vein as GRRM still has an executive producer title in the current series…

  140. Thank-you WotW!!
    I’m most excited about GRRM working with either extremely talented Jane Goldman/Carly Wray.

    I love then idea of a quaint story of Hot Pie’s life at the Inn at the Crossroads after the final battle.

    Ea. episode could focus on the travelers from all over Westoros, that stay there. Viewers would get to find out how life is now. Stories of new rulers & rules, changes to religions & cultures could show what & how the war impacted individuals.

    Original cast members could make special appearances or even better, star in the series.
    They can reminiscent about past experiences together & so on.

  141. After reading most comments I must add to my vision:

    Hot Pie has Monty Python comedy type variety shows, including music & skits at the Inn.

    It’s a great hang out for Arya, Hound, Gendry, Tyrion, Bronn, Jon, & Sam.

  142. Travelers from all over stop in to rest & eat hot pies while telling ancient stories from where they come from.
    The show makes the tales come to life in little snippets as the storyteller narratives:
    Old Valeria
    Dunk & Egg
    Nymeria
    Dance of Dragons
    The long night
    It could go on & on

  143. MaesterMercy: I love then idea of a quaint story of Hot Pie’s life at the Inn at the Crossroads after the final battle.

    Ea. episode could focus on the travelers from all over Westoros, that stay there. Viewers would get to find out how life is now. Stories of new rulers & rules, changes to religions & cultures could show what & how the war impacted individuals.

    Original cast members could make special appearances or even better, star in the series. They can reminiscent about past experiences together & so on.

    I’m kind of intrigued by that ‘framing device’ concept as well. It would be like the Canterbury Tales, only everyone keeps converging on the same place. Each episode could start with someone (often someone already familiar to GoT audiences) arriving at the Inn, reuniting with someone else or simply being asked to share a tale of the road. They begin their story in an expository way, and then the scene quickly dissolves into the flashback, which takes up much of the episode, with a sporadic line or two of voiceover narration by the storyteller. The account could be periodically interrupted by someone in the conversation in the Inn scoffing or otherwise reacting, to remind us where we are and break up the pace.

    Here’s Wimsey’s cue to break in and demand to know, ‘Where’s the story? Where are the parallel internal character conflicts?’ But I don’t care. There’s more than one way to enthrall an audience. This concept would be the sort of ‘ode to the art of storytelling’ that I just love in movies like Kubo and the Two Strings or Tale of Tales (or even The Princess Bride).

    This kind of formula is really optimal for TV with commercial breaks, of course, rather than cable. But it has other structural strengths, such as being friendly to the incorporation of guest stars, guest screenwriters and guest directors. I’d watch the hell out of it.

  144. Jared: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child … yikes. I wasn’t opposed to the concept of a story set “Nineteen years later”, but what they did with it was a big swing and a miss. Going overboard with the Time-Turners was an awful idea.

    Cursed Child was kind of a clunky read, I found, although people I know who saw it onstage really liked it.

    But consider the other current Potterverse spinoff: Fantastic Beasts was terrifically entertaining, introducing new and engaging characters while remaining grounded in a fresh facet of a familiar alternate reality. I think the potential is there for another long-running franchise that dives more deeply into bits of backstory that we already know – primarily the whole Grindelwald wizarding war – but opens up plenty of new landscapes for us to explore. Newt Scamander points the way that Planetos could evolve onscreen, successfully.

  145. Firannion,

    I admit I haven’t seen the Cursed Child play, and like you, I have heard that those who actually saw the production on stage really liked it. Which makes total sense – it was designed as a play, after all, and I’ve heard that both the performances and the special effects are quite good. In terms of what the actual story contained, however, the liberal use of Time Turners was a sticking point for me. I enjoyed the way Rowling used them in The Prisoner of Azkaban (my favorite of the HP novels), but she apparently recognized the narrative danger of having such an artifact available in her universe, so she went out of her way to have them all destroyed in The Order of the Phoenix.

    In light of that, I was surprised that she signed off on allowing the playwrights to not only use them in Cursed Child, but to make them a central and inextricable part of the narrative. On the page, it came across primarily as a device to allow the play to bring back old characters, revisit key moments from the original series, and play with certain “What if …” possibilities. I can certainly understand the appeal of the concept, but as you say, it was a bit clunky to read. I would like to see the play one day, so that I can give the story another chance in the medium it was tailored for.

    I did really like Fantastic Beasts, however! The characters were all charming, and some fascinating new ideas were explored. All in all, I’m very eager to see how Rowling expands that chapter of her Wizarding World’s history. She may not have thousands of pages of fake history already written, as Martin does, bu it seems pretty clear that she has a plan.

  146. I wanna see the Robert’s Rebellion! Only this would already make me satisfied.

  147. Firannion,

    Thanks! Nice to know I’m not the only one who would be interested to watch a Canterbury Tales type story. That’s exactly what I had envisioned.

  148. MaesterMercy,

    With George RR Martin as Chaucer? LOL.

    Seriously, this HBO news is good, but I have to wonder if this won’t impede progress on WOW release. I’ve been waiting nearly 20 years for the saga to be completed. I’m beginning to feel like Bloodraven, spending ages in a tree waiting for relief to come.

  149. If they go with Roberts Rebellion, then they should end it with the footage from GoT at the Tower of Joy when that sexy as fuck knight tells Ned, “and now it begins…”

Comments are closed.