Upcoming Game of Thrones spin-offs: Beyond House of the Dragon

It’s always risky to release a spinoff of a popular TV series, but HBO and HBO Max did it with the first season of House of the Dragon. The prequel to the fantasy series Game of Thrones was both a critical and ratings success in its first season, and a second season is in the works. But did you know that more Game of Thrones spinoffs could be on the way?

That’s right, friends. Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max are working on a ton of Game of Thrones spinoffs in the fantasy world of Westeros and beyond. In fact, the studio has already filmed a pilot for another spinoff show but decided not to go full series in favor of House of the Dragon. We’ll be talking about this pilot, as well as any other shows and movies that are said to be in development. Some are prequels, and at least one is actually planned as a sequel to the original series, also featuring one of its original cast members. In the meantime, you can catch Game of Thrones and the first season of Blood of the Dragon right now on HBO Max.

Ahead of the House of the Dragon announcement, HBO asked several writers for their ideas for a Game of Thrones spinoff series. In June 2018, Weekly entertainment reported that HBO picked one. George RR Martin, the man who wrote the original A Song of Ice and Fire novels that served as the basis for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, has been listed as co-creator of the new series. The other co-creator was Jane Goldman, who wrote or co-wrote screenplays for many popular genre films, including Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The series itself took place thousands of years before the Game of Thrones series. According to HBO’s official description, the prequel would show “the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes to its darkest hour.” We would see the true origins of the original series’ biggest villains, the White Walkers, as well as other revelations. The show had the production title of Bloodmoon. Other possible titles that were suggested were Age of Heroes and The Long Night.

In June 2019, EO reported that the series pilot had begun filming in Northern Ireland. The cast was led by Naomi Watts, who has starred in films like Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, as well as The Ring and its sequel. She has also been the star of television shows such as the third season of Twin Peaks on Showtime and, more recently, the Netflix limited series The Watcher. Although his character was never named, Variety reported that she played “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”.

Other cast members who have been named in the entertainment trade press include Miranda Richardson, Jamie Campbell Bower and John Simm. The pilot’s director was SJ Clarkson, an experienced television producer of shows like Jessica Jones, Dexter, Succession and others. HBO reportedly spent over $30 million filming the pilot episode.

However, in October 2019, HBO unexpectedly announced that the network was not moving forward with the series and instead gave House of the Dragon a full series order. What happened? IGN reports that, in an interview for an HBO history book, former WarnerMedia president Bob Greenblatt said he saw an edited version of the pilot after it was completed. Afterwards, he told Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief content officer. “”It just doesn’t work, and I don’t think it delivers on the promise of the original series.” And he didn’t disagree, which was actually a relief. There were also rumors unconfirmed that the pilot had overbudget issues and other creative differences.

Deadline reported in January 2021 that HBO had begun developing a Game of Thrones spin-off show based on a short story series by George RR Martin titled Tales of Dunk and Egg. The series follows Dunk (Ser Duncan the Great) and Egg (the future King Aegon V. Taregaryen) in a series of adventures set 90 years before the start of Game of Thrones. In March 2022, Martin confirmed on his “Not a Blog” that the series was still in development, with Steve Conrad (Wonder, The Weather Man) serving as lead writer. Martin also says that the real title of the show could be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms or The Hedge Knight.

Another live-action series in development is this prequel show. It will focus on the voyage of 10,000 ships, led by Princess Nymeria of the Rhoynar. She tries to find a new home for her kingdom after being defeated by the Targaryen family ancestors. Deadline first reported in May 2021 that Amanda Segel (Helstrom, person of interest) was penning this series proposal, and Martin confirmed in her March 2022 blog post that it was still in development.

Another of the spin-off shows is actually kind of a prequel to House of the Dragon. It would feature a young version of Corlys Velaryon, aka The Sea Snake, who embarks on adventures beyond the land of Westeros. Steve Toussaint plays the older version of this character in House of the Dragon. Deadline first reported on this show in March 2021. Bruno Heller, who developed the DC Batman shows Gotham and Pennyworth, is in charge of this prequel show. Martin reconfirmed that this show was still in active development as of March 2022.

Flea Bottom (Cancelled)

A proposed spinoff that has been mentioned in show business media sites is apparently not going forward. Flea Bottom was going to be set in the popular Westeros town of King’s Landing, but in its lowest neighborhood. While industry sites first mentioned it was in development by HBO in early 2021, The Hollywood Reporter said the series ended development in July 2021.

Perhaps the most interesting of the Game of Thrones spinoffs that have been announced is an actual sequel to the original TV show. The Hollywood Reporter first revealed in June 2022 that a series centered around popular Game of Thrones character Jon Snow was in active development. Kit Harington, who played Snow in the original series, is set to star in this sequel show. Martin quickly confirmed the news and that the working title of the series was called Snow. Martin also confirmed that Harington actually brought the proposal for the series to him and to HBO, along with his own writing team.

At the end of the Game of Thrones series, we see Snow join the Wildlings to travel north beyond the Great Wall. Presumably, we would see his adventures in this period of the character’s life in the show’s sequel. It’s also possible that, if this does launch as a series, we could also see other Game of Thrones actors reprise their roles for this show.

While all of the shows we mentioned earlier are live-action series, Warner Bros. is also developing Game of Thrones animated projects exclusively for the HBO Max streaming service. One of the anime series is said to be set in the land of Yi Ti, inspired by Imperial China. The Hollywood Reporter stated in July 2021 that in addition to Yi Ti, two other anime projects are in development, but it is unclear what they will look like. Martin confirmed that animation projects were underway as of June 2022.

Game of Thrones show on Broadway

Along with all of the HBO and HBO Max projects, a stage version of Game of Thrones is in the works. The Hollywood Reporter said in March 2021 that Martin was developing a story for the play, alongside partners like writer Duncan MacMillan and director Dominic Cooke. The story will take place 16 years before the television series and will tell of the Grand Tournament in Harrenhal. The play will feature several characters who appeared later, story-wise, in Game of Thrones. The story said the play was due to air on Boardway, the West End in London and Australia in 2023. It’s been a while since the last game version update but there is no indication so far that it is not progressing.

This is a brief overview of the many Game of Thrones spinoffs in development, as well as some notable canceled projects. It’s important to note that the only prequel project that will definitely get made is the second season of House of the Dragon. All other spin-off projects are in various stages of development, and many, if not all, may not be able to proceed. We’ll update this post when we have updates on any of these efforts.