A Sense of Doubt blog post #3094 - Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works (and suspended for now)
Just this today.
https://ew.com/tv/game-of-thrones-every-spinoff-in-development/
When it comes to Game of Thrones, what is dead may never die.
HBO's juggernaut fantasy epic ended in 2019, but there are so many prequels, follow-ups, and spin-offs in the works that we may never be without the stories of Westeros. Here's everything we know so far about all the Game of Thrones-related projects that are in development, rumored to be in development, and coming back to the screen.
House of the Dragon season 2
House of the Dragon was first out of the gate for Game of Thrones spin-offs (since the first planned prequel series starring Naomi Watts was not picked up by HBO). The series got off to an energetic start in 2022 with its 10-episode first season about the conflicts within House Targaryen that eventually lead to the destructive civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. The show was quickly renewed for season 2, and earned eight Emmy nominations earlier this month.
Season 2 of House of the Dragon is currently in production in the United Kingdom, despite the ongoing strikes of Hollywood writers and actors. Reportedly, all scripts for the new episodes were completed before the WGA strike began in May, and showrunner Ryan Condal is on set strictly in a non-writing capacity — though that leaves it unclear how the production will handle the editing and rewrites typically needed by film and TV productions.
Some shows that tried to soldier on through the WGA strike with previously completed scripts were eventually halted by the beginning of the SAG-AFTRA strike on July 14, but not House of the Dragon. Though the U.K. actors' union Equity declared solidarity with SAG-AFTRA, the country's labor regulations are "draconian, and often viewed as the most restrictive in the Western world," Paul W. Fleming, the general secretary of Equity, said in a public statement. While the ongoing strikes comply with U.S. law, things are different in the U.K., and any attempts by the show's actors to picket or walk off set would have no protection from disciplinary actions like being dismissed or sued for breach of contract.
Whenever House of the Dragon season 2 is ready to air, it will feature several new characters from George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood, including Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, and Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull.
Returning stars include Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Rhys Ifans as Ser Otto Hightower, Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon (a.k.a. the Sea Snake), and Eve Best as the Sea Snake's wife, Princess Rhaenya Velaryon (a.k.a. the Queen That Never Was).
Another noteworthy change from season 1 is the departure of co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed three episodes. Sapochnik was the only creative leader to carry over from Game of Thrones to House of the Dragon, which may explain why he needed some time away. In his place, Alan Taylor (who directed important GOT episodes like "Blackwater") joined House of the Dragon season 2 as an executive producer and director, though Condal is now the singular showrunner.
"Season 1 was setting the table for a very bloody feast to come," Condal previously told EW. "The reason that I wanted to really spend our time doing this is because I wanted everybody to understand who all of these characters were and the long history they had behind them — behind their fathers and their grandfathers — that led us to this point where they end up fighting a civil war against each other. I'm really interested in picking up with all of those characters that we spent all of this time introducing, particularly Rhaenyra and Alicent's families, and seeing what happens now that we've flipped the chessboard over and spilled the pieces on the ground. How do all those react? That's the story that we tell in season 2 and beyond."
Updates from George R.R. Martin
Before we go on to list the other Game of Thrones projects in development, it's worth noting a few updates from the original creator of Westeros. In a blog post last December, Martin noted that the transition from HBO Max to Max (and the greater corporate reorganizing at Warner Bros. Discovery) meant that "a couple [Game of Thrones spin-offs] have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead."
As a member of the WGA, Martin has been on strike from TV projects since May. After the actors in SAG-AFTRA walked out as well, Martin wrote on his blog that his overall deal with HBO has been suspended. But hey, that should give him plenty of time to focus on writing The Winds of Winter. Of the long-awaited sixth volume in A Song of Ice & Fire, Martin wrote that he has been "making steady progress. Not as fast as I would like...certainly not as fast as you would like…but progress nonetheless."
The Sea Snake
When we meet the man known as the Sea Snake in House of the Dragon, Corlys Velaryon is a wise and world-weary veteran of many adventurers. But Fire & Blood, whose history of House Targaryen and Westeros stretches back much farther than the beginning of the show, is full of fun details about the seafarer's legendary Nine Voyages.
Those past adventures would be good material for another show, and HBO was first reported to be developing a spinoff called Nine Voyages in March 2021. It later changed its working title to The Sea Snake, since "we wanted to avoid having two shows with numbers in the title," according to Martin's blog. (The other numbered title being Ten Thousand Ships — more on that below.)
Given that The Sea Snake would be set earlier in the character's life, Toussaint presumably would not be reprising his role from House of the Dragon. But the actor would still love to be involved, as he told EW in July 2022.
"If I'm lucky, I might say to them, 'Let me just be at the beginning [of the show] sitting with a book saying, 'Let me talk about my life,'" Toussaint said. "That'll be me petitioning. But no, all you can hope for is that what I do is good enough and vivid enough and interesting enough for people to want to know, how did that person get there? And then that show, whatever that is, whenever that happens, it has a life of its own for whoever the lucky guy is that plays it."
The pilot script hails from The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller — who was previously reported to be pitching GOT spin-off ideas to HBO like a prequel about Robert's Rebellion.
Snow
The one Game of Thrones spin-off not based on pre-existing material by Martin is a planned sequel series that would focus on what Jon Snow gets up to after the end of Game of Thrones. Kit Harington is set to reprise his role from the original series, and not just that — Martin confirmed on his blog that "it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us," and that the actor even brought in his own writers and showrunners (whom Martin declined to name at this stage).
Though originally presented as the bastard child of Ned Stark, Jon learned over the course of Thrones that he was actually Ned's nephew, the illegitimate son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. (According to legend, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss successfully guessing Jon's secret parentage was what secured Martin's support for them to helm the TV adaptation of A Song of Ice & Fire.) This complicated Jon's relationship with his lover Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), who was actually his aunt, after all, and the series ended with Jon killing Daenerys and getting exiled to the Night's Watch rather than face execution for regicide.
The very last shot of Game of Thrones, a reflection of the first, was Jon riding out from Castle Black to join his friends in the Free Folk beyond the Wall. It's anyone's guess what happens next.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
In addition to the five novels in A Song of Ice & Fire, Martin has written several novellas set in the world of Westeros — The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight — which have been collected together as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Set 90 years before Game of Thrones, these are often referred to as the Dunk & Egg stories, after their protagonists: Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Aemon (a.k.a. Egg), who will grow up to be King Aegon V Targaryen.
In an April blog post, Martin confirmed that the stories of Dunk and Egg will be the basis of another TV series. But he also explained why the show won't be named after them.
"I love Dunk and I love Egg, and I know that fans refer to my novellas as 'the Dunk & Egg stories,' sure, but there are millions of people out there who do not know the stories and the title needs to intrigue them too," he wrote. "If you don't know the characters, Dunk & Egg sounds like a sitcom. Laverne & Shirley. Abbott & Costello. Beavis & Butthead. So, no. We want 'knight' in the title. Knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of these stories."
Steve Conrad will helm this series, and the pilot script was written by Ira Parker (who worked on season 1 of House of the Dragon).
"He's determined to do a faithful adaptation of the stories, which is exactly what I want; these characters and stories are very precious to me," Martin wrote. "The first season will be an adaptation of the first novella, The Hedge Knight."
Like the other shows on this list (aside from House of the Dragon), A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is still in the script stage, and its writers' room has been shut down for the duration of the WGA strike.
Ten Thousand Ships
This prequel, reportedly set about 1,000 years before the events of GOT, would follow Princess Nymeria, an ancestor of House Martell who founded Dorne. Known as a true warrior, she was such an iconic figure in the world of GOT that two characters from the original series were named after her: one of the Sand Snakes (played by Jessica Henwick) as well as Arya Stark's direwolf.
According to Martin, the working title Ten Thousand Ships refers to the military move in which Nymeria ordered all her ships to be burned after her army traveled from Essos to Dorne so that turning back was not an option. Martin also confirmed in March 2022 that Amanda Segel was writing the project and had already delivered "a couple drafts."
The Golden Empire and other animated series
These spin-offs are most shrouded in secrecy, but thankfully Martin has given little bits and pieces of information about what fans might be able to expect from the rumored animated GOT series, beginning with The Golden Empire (working title).
"I am not allowed to talk about most of what's happening, except to say that things are moving very fast, and I love love love some of the concept art I am seeing," he wrote on his blog last year. "The news leaked several months ago that one of the animated shows would be set in Yi Ti. That's true. Our working title is The Golden Empire, and we have a great young writer on that one too, and I think the art and animation is just going to be beautiful. I would tell you more if I could. I don't think I can say a word about the other animated shows. Not yet."
[This article was originally published in April 2021 and has been updated with new information.]
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2308.08 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2958 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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