EW: Game of Thrones prequel pilot ordered by HBO
EDIT:
GRRM's comments on his blog:
HBO has officially greenlit a follow-up pilot to its acclaimed international hit Game of Thrones and it sounds just as massively ambitious as the original series.
The network has ordered a prequel drama from writer Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass) and author George R.R. Martin. The network has released an official description of the show's storyline, and it's another tale spread across multiple locations and clans: "Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros's history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend … it's not the story we think we know."
According to Martin's books, the Age of Heroes began 10,000 years before the events in GoT. Some of the major names which could be characters in the new show include Bran the Builder (who founded House Stark, and oversaw construction of The Wall and Winterfell) and Lann the Clever (who founded House Lannister). The era led into the Long Night — a winter that lasted a generation — and the greatest war against the white walkers. Then again, that's what we think we know, and the logline for the new show says this is "not the story we think we know."
The pilot doesn't yet have a title. If greenlit to series, HBO has previously stated that no successor series will air until a year after GoT has its series finale. Since the eighth and final season of GoT is coming next year, the soonest we can see a successor series is 2020. If ordered to series, this will mark the first time in HBO's history that the premium cable network has made a successor series to one of its shows.
Obviously, given the show's timeline, it's not expected to use any of the show's current cast members (though the Night King making an appearance doesn't seem out of the question). GoT showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have elected not to be involved; after finishing the final season the duo will transition to penning a new series of Star Wars films for Disney.
Goldman is co-creator on the drama along with Martin and will serve as showrunner. Goldman won a highly unusual bake-off that HBO put into motion last fall between five different writers, each tasked with developing a Game of Thrones follow-up series. GoT is considered a lightning-in-a-bottle hit, and the idea was to maximize the network's chances of finding a successor that fans would embrace. Sources say the other four prequel ideas are still under consideration.
Having a new series set in Westeros from the perspective of a female showrunner should generate buzz as GoT has often provoked debate about the show's treatment of its female characters in a fantasy world, albeit one inspired by the historical brutality of medieval Europe.
EDIT:
GRRM's comments on his blog:
HBO Greenlights Goldman Pilot
To clarify, what we have here is a pilot order, not as yet a series order. Though of course we are all hoping that will follow.
Yes, this is a prequel, not a sequel. None of the characters or actors from GAME OF THRONES will appear in the new show. All of the successor shows we've been developing have been prequels, as I have mentioned before. This one really puts the PRE in prequel, since it is set not ninety years before GAME OF THRONES (like Dunk & Egg), or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years (well, assuming the oral histories of the First Men are accurate, but there are maesters at the Citadel who insist it has only been half that long). We're very early in the process, of course, with the pilot order just in, so we don't have a director yet, or a cast, or a location, or even a title. (My vote would be THE LONG NIGHT, which says it all, but I'd be surprised if that's where we end up. More likely HBO will want to work the phrase "game of thrones" in there somewhere. We'll know sooner or later).
We do have a showrunner: Jane Goldman, who penned the pilot script.
All of the news stories about the pilot being greenlit are slapping my own picture up there next to Jane's, which is very flattering but also a little misleading Remember, they also slapped my picture up on the news stories about the TV development of Nnedi Okarafor's WHO FEARS DEATH, when they should have been using Nnedi's picture. I've consulted with all of the writers on all of the successor shows, and several of them have visited me in Santa Fe for long days of discussion, and we've gone back and forth in email, text, and telephone, so I have definitely been involved… but really, the accolades here should go to Jane. She has been an absolute thrill to work with… and my god, what a talent.
Those of you who are fans of not just GAME OF THRONES, but of television, film, and sf and fantasy in the broader sense are already well familiar with her work, whether you know it or not. She's wrote the KINGSMEN movies, scripted one X-MEN film and did the story for another, did the screenplay for the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's STARDUST, and for the superhero satire KICKASS as well. Among lots of other credits. Oh, and she's written the script for Disney's forthcoming live action version of THE LITTLE MERMAID too. Can't wait for that one.
More via the link.I will try to keep you all informed as work progresses on the new show (whatever we end up calling it)… though, given the amount of stuff I am trying to juggle right now, news will probably break on a dozen other places before I get around to it, as happened here.
As for the other successor shows… if you have been following along, you know that we started with four, and eventually went to five. One of those has been shelved, I am given to understand, and of course Jane's pilot is now moving to film. But that does not mean the others are dead. Three more GAME OF THRONES prequels, set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development. Everything I am told indicates that we could film at least one more pilot, and maybe more than one, in the years to come. We do have an entire world and tens of thousands of years of history to play with, after all. But this is television, so nothing is certain.
(Oh, and WHO FEARS DEATH is moving along well too, and I am very excited about that one as well. Selwyn Seyfu Hinds did a terrific job with his first draft of the pilot, based on Nnedi's novel).
(And yes, before you ask, work on WINDS OF WINTER continues, and remains my top priority. It is ridiculous to think otherwise. If I wasn't busy with WINDS, don't you think I'd be scripting one or more of these pilots myself? It's not as if I've never written for TV… )
So cross your fingers and your toes, fantasy fans. Some good stuff is coming. And let's have a round of applause for Jane Goldman.
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