Last week was a pretty big week of news for Game of Thrones fans, with HBO announcing that it has decided not to move forward with its Naomi Watts-headlined spinoff, before granting a straight-to-series order to another spinoff, House of the Dragon.
Game of Thrones veteran Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal (Colony) will be serving as co-showrunners on the new series, created by Condal and A Song of Ice & Fire creator George R.R. Martin, and the author has taken to his personal website to offer comment on the new series.
“We have a green light for a Game of Thrones successor show… not just a pilot, but a full season order for ten episodes,” writes Martin. ” House of the Dragon is the title of the new show, and needless to say it will be centered on House Targaryen, set a couple of centuries before the events of A Song of Ice & Fire and based upon Archmaester Gyldayn’s imaginary history Fire & Blood.”
“House of the Dragon has been in development for several years (though the title has changed a couple of times during that process),” he continued. “It was actually the first concept I pitched to HBO when we started talking about a successor show, way back in the summer of 2016. If you’d like to know a bit more of what the show will be about… well, I can’t actually spill those beans, but you might want to pick up a copy of two anthologies I did with Gardner Dozois, Dangerous Women and Rogues, and then move on to Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, Fire & Blood.”
Martin also went on to address the cancellation of the first spinoff pilot (officially untitled, although Martin had referred to it as The Long Night), which was written by Jane Goldman (Kingsman, X-Men: Days of Future Past) and would have taken place thousands of years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the early Starks and the White Walkers.
“It goes without saying that I was saddened to hear the show would not be going to series. Jane Goldman is a terrific screenwriter, and I enjoyed brainstorming with her. I do not know why HBO decided not to go to series on this one, but I do not think it had to do with House of the Dragon. This was never an either/or situation. If television has room enough for multiple CSIs and Chicago shows… well, Westeros and Essos are a lot bigger, with thousands of years of history and enough tales and legends and characters for a dozen shows. Heartbreaking as it is to work for years on a pilot, to pour your blood and sweat and tears into it, and have it come to nought, it’s not at all uncommon. I’ve been there myself, more than once. I know Jane and her team are feeling the disappointment just now, and they have all my sympathy… with my thanks for all their hard work, and my good wishes for whatever they do next.”
Are you looking forward to House of the Dragon, and are you disappointed that the other pilot is no longer moving forward? Let us know in the comments below, or on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Originally published November 4, 2019. Updated November 5, 2019.
