The 'Game of Thrones' prequels: everything we know so far

Here’s what we know about the five potential new shows

Here’s what we know about the five potential new shows

The 'Game of Thrones' prequels: everything we know so far

Here’s what we know about the five potential new shows

In September, news broke that Bryan Cogman, a veteran producer of HBO's Game of Thrones, is currently working on the show's fifth prequel series, which George R . R. Martin announced back in May. All five projects are all super-secret, but there are a few details fans should know to hold them over until we get more info.Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have decided not to have too much involvement in the prequels, but will stay on as executive producers, leaving the door open for new showrunners with new takes on the world of Westeros. Five writers, some working more closely with author Martin than others, are in the running to take the Thrones universe in a new direction. All the shows will feature entirely new characters, so don’t expect any fan favorites to return, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The storylines likely won’t link up to any we’ve seen on the HBO series already, and Variety reports Martin denied fan theories that the shows will be based on Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon the Unlikely, or center around Robert’s Rebellion.Also, don’t get too excited for a Game of Thrones bonanza. Casey Bloys, programming president at HBO, said he might only let one of them air, and none would hit television until after the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones. As of now there have been no major commitments about the shows’ formats or timing. Martin has stated he’s been talking to all five writers, and they all have visited him in Santa Fe to talk about specifics:“Every one of the four has visited me here in Santa Fe, some of them more than once, and we've spent days together discussing their ideas, the history of Westeros and the world beyond, and sundry details found only in The World of Ice & Fire and The Lands of Ice & Fire... when we weren't drinking margaritas and eating chile rellenos and visiting Meow Wolf. They are all amazing talents, and I am excited to be working with them. In between visits, I've been in touch with them by phone, text, and email, and I expect there will be a lot more back-and-forth as we move forward.”Here’s what we know so far about each writer’s prequel projects. Prequel #1: Max BorensteinMax Borenstein, a screenwriter for Kong: Skull Island and an upcoming Godzilla movie, is working on a prequel idea for HBO. He hasn’t said anything about his project, but he did speak to Creative Screenwriting about his experiences working on both smaller scale and big-budget projects. “Sometimes it makes sense for a studio to plug screenwriters who do smaller, dramatic pieces into movies that are of giant scale,” he said. “What they’d like to do is bring those giant-scale movies down to earth a little.”Prequel #2: Jane Goldman and George R. R. MartinJane Goldman, writer of The Woman in Black and cowriter of Kick-Ass and the Kingsman movies, is developing a pitch for a Thrones spinoff. "I am just writing ideas and outlining some things,” she told Digital Spy. “I really can't say very much about it, but yeah, it's all going well. I'm having lots of fun making stuff up!" When asked if the show would combine her sense of humor with her love of gory horror, she said, "I don't know if I'm allowed to say, but I would say yeah! Those are things I love, and things I like to do. It would be remiss of me not to put them in. So yeah.”Prequel #3: Brian HelgelandBrian Helgeland, who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for L.A. Confidential (and, the same year, the Razzie for The Postman’s screenplay), is working on a prequel idea for Game of Thrones. More recently, he was behind the movie Legend, which starred Tom Hardy in dual roles as twins. He hasn’t talked about the project, but back in 2015 he said television wasn’t for him. “It’s only in the last four or five years that that’s become an option, but I’m not interested in TV,” he told Collider. “I want to make movies so I’m going to die with my boots on.”Prequel #4: Carly Wray and George R. R. MartinCarly Wray, a writer for The Leftovers and Mad Men, is working on a prequel idea with Martin. Wray hasn’t done much press around her previous projects—or around this one—but she is coming straight off another critically beloved HBO drama, so the transition would be pretty easy for her. Prequel #5: Bryan Cogman and George R.R. MartinEntertainment Weekly reports Bryan Cogman, a co-executive producer and prolific writer on Game of Thrones, is working on a fifth prequel. He worked with George R.R. Martin on the concept, but of course is tight-lipped about what the show is about. Martin hinted at a fifth prequel series in the works back in May, without mentioning Cogman's name. “He’s a really terrific addition,” Martin wrote on his LiveJournal. “A great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda , I don’t know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does.” A prequel show won’t arrive until at least 2020. “If we do a pilot and series, nothing is going to air on HBO until at least a year after the final season. We're not doing a final season and then, ‘Following it at 11 p.m. … ,’” Bloys recently told THR. Since HBO officially confirmed that Game of Thrones Season 8 airs in 2019, that means a spinoff show won’t air until 2020, the earliest. They won’t revisit the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ storyline. Bloys told THR that the GoT Season 8 finale doesn’t leave the door open for revivals or reboots down the line. “That's not happening. This story, A Song of Fire and Ice, is done. There's no revival, reboot, spinoff talk,” he said.HBO is reportedly eyeing a budget of over $50 million per season.The network's senior VP of drama, Francesca Orsi, revealed in a recent panel that HBO has planned a massive budget for the spinoffs. "$50 million (per season) would never fly for what we are trying to do. We are going big," she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. To put that into context, when Game of Thrones first debuted, the budget was about $6 million per episode in Season 1, according to Variety. With 10 episodes, that's an estimated $60 million budget for the season. It looks like the spinoffs will kick off with a much higher production value. (For Season 8, the cost has more than doubled to $15 million per episode.)

In September, that Bryan Cogman, a veteran producer of HBO's Game of Thrones, is currently working on the show's fifth prequel series, which George R . R. Martin announced . All five projects are all super-secret, but there are a few details fans should know to hold them over until we get more info.

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have decided not to have too much involvement in the prequels, but will , leaving the door open for new showrunners with new takes on the world of Westeros. Five writers, some working more closely with author Martin than others, are in the running to take the Thrones universe in a new direction.

All the shows will feature entirely new characters, so don’t expect any fan favorites to return, according to . The storylines likely won’t link up to any we’ve seen on the HBO series already, and reports Martin denied fan theories that the shows will be based on Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon the Unlikely, or center around Robert’s Rebellion.

Also, don’t get too excited for a Game of Thrones bonanza. Casey Bloys, programming president at HBO, he might only let one of them air, and none would hit television until after the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones. As of now there have been no major commitments about the shows’ formats or timing.

Martin he’s been talking to all five writers, and they all have visited him in Santa Fe to talk about specifics:

“Every one of the four has visited me here in Santa Fe, some of them more than once, and we've spent days together discussing their ideas, the history of Westeros and the world beyond, and sundry details found only in The World of Ice & Fire and The Lands of Ice & Fire... when we weren't drinking margaritas and eating chile rellenos and visiting Meow Wolf. They are all amazing talents, and I am excited to be working with them. In between visits, I've been in touch with them by phone, text, and email, and I expect there will be a lot more back-and-forth as we move forward.”

Here’s what we know so far about each writer’s prequel projects.

Prequel #1: Max Borenstein

Max Borenstein, a screenwriter for Kong: Skull Island and an upcoming Godzilla movie, is working on a prequel idea for HBO. He hasn’t said anything about his project, but he did speak to about his experiences working on both smaller scale and big-budget projects. “Sometimes it makes sense for a studio to plug screenwriters who do smaller, dramatic pieces into movies that are of giant scale,” he said. “What they’d like to do is bring those giant-scale movies down to earth a little.”

Prequel #2: Jane Goldman and George R. R. Martin

Jane Goldman, writer of The Woman in Black and cowriter of Kick-Ass and the Kingsman movies, is developing a pitch for a Thrones spinoff. "I am just writing ideas and outlining some things,” she told . “I really can't say very much about it, but yeah, it's all going well. I'm having lots of fun making stuff up!" When asked if the show would combine her sense of humor with her love of gory horror, she said, "I don't know if I'm allowed to say, but I would say yeah! Those are things I love, and things I like to do. It would be remiss of me not to put them in. So yeah.”

Prequel #3: Brian Helgeland

Brian Helgeland, who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for L.A. Confidential (and, the Razzie for The Postman’s screenplay), is working on a prequel idea for Game of Thrones. More recently, he was behind the movie Legend, which starred Tom Hardy in dual roles as twins. He hasn’t talked about the project, but back in 2015 he said television wasn’t for him. “It’s only in the last four or five years that that’s become an option, but I’m not interested in TV,” he told . “I want to make movies so I’m going to die with my boots on.”

Prequel #4: Carly Wray and George R. R. Martin

Carly Wray, a writer for The Leftovers and Mad Men, is working on a prequel idea with Martin. Wray hasn’t done much press around her previous projects—or around this one—but she is coming straight off another critically beloved HBO drama, so the transition would be pretty easy for her.

Prequel #5: Bryan Cogman and George R.R. Martin

reports Bryan Cogman, a co-executive producer and prolific writer on Game of Thrones, is working on a fifth prequel. He worked with George R.R. Martin on the concept, but of course is tight-lipped about what the show is about.

Martin hinted at a fifth prequel series in the works back in May, without mentioning Cogman's name. “He’s a really terrific addition,” Martin wrote on his . “A great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda [who run Westeros.org], I don’t know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does.”

A prequel show won’t arrive until at least 2020.

“If we do a pilot and series, nothing is going to air on HBO until at least a year after the final season. We're not doing a final season and then, ‘Following it at 11 p.m. … ,’” Bloys recently told . Since HBO that Game of Thrones Season 8 airs in 2019, that means a spinoff show won’t air until 2020, the earliest.

They won’t revisit the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ storyline.

Bloys told THR that the GoT Season 8 finale doesn’t leave the door open for revivals or reboots down the line. “That's not happening. This story, A Song of Fire and Ice, is done. There's no revival, reboot, spinoff talk,” he said.

HBO is reportedly eyeing a budget of over $50 million per season.

The network's senior VP of drama, Francesca Orsi, revealed in a recent panel that HBO has planned a massive budget for the spinoffs. "$50 million (per season) would never fly for what we are trying to do. We are going big," she said, according to .

To put that into context, when Game of Thrones first debuted, the budget was about $6 million per episode in Season 1, according to . With 10 episodes, that's an estimated $60 million budget for the season. It looks like the spinoffs will kick off with a much higher production value. (For , the cost has more than doubled to $15 million per episode.)

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