‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoffs: Fifth Prequel Series in Works at HBO From Long-Time Writer and Producer
Winter isn’t even remotely over. Entertainment Weekly reports that yet another “Game of Thrones” prequel series is in the works at HBO — though there are no guarantees that any, let alone all of them will get the green light — joining the four that were previously announced in May. This one comes from long-time “GOT” writer and co-executive producer Bryan Cogman, who reportedly “worked closely” with author and creator George R.R. Martin in developing the drama spinoff.
Cogman has been with the hit HBO series since its very first season, when he was initially hired as an assistant to showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. Over the years, Cogman has penned a number of the series’ signature episodes, including “Stormborn,” “The Laws of Gods and Men,” and “Kissed by Fire.” He’s also on deck to pen a new version of the Disney classic “The Sword in the Stone.”
As expected, details on the plot of Cogman’s spinoff are slim, though EW notes that “Martin has ruled out tackling Robert’s Rebellion (noting fans already know all the major plot points from that war anyway) or mining his Dunk & Egg tales (as they are still being written).” Moreover, the outlet adds, that “all the prequel projects are set before the events in ‘Game of Thrones’ and do not involve any members of the current cast (the term ‘spinoff’ is frequently used to describe these projects though it’s not technically correct).”
While the first four prequels were announced in May (via a blog post from Martin), the possibility of a fifth one has been hinted at from the jump, though later reports zeroed more firmly in on said original four.
At July’s TCAs, HBO programming president Casey Bloys explained, “The four writers, he talked to all of them and we left it up to them whether they wanted George involved in the writing. Two have him co-creating and two don’t. That was their choice.” Writers Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray are all penning prequels, and Martin will co-write with Goldman and Wray.
Bloys added, “I don’t want to get into specifics, but the writers aren’t coming up with something that doesn’t already exist in his timeline.”
With “Game of Thrones” set to end its eight-season run sometime in 2018 or 2019 (no premiere date has been set yet), fans of the series should not expect to see any spinoffs until 2019 at the earliest. And despite the apparent breadth of material getting the prequel treatment, Bloys has not made any promises regarding green lighting the projects, and he’s been clear that he may only pick one to air on the cable giant.
Sounds like a battle of epic proportions.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
