It's happening! HBO confirms pilot for Game of Thrones prequel series
The rumors and speculations are slowly taking form! HBO has announced on Saturday that the first of the several rumored Game of Thrones offshoot concepts has been ordered to pilot, according to a report by Variety.
According to the report, Jane Goldman, a writer on a number of Matthew Vaughn’s projects (including the Kingsman movies), will serve as showrunner of the yet-to-be-titled show. Taking place thousands of years before the events of 'Game of Thrones,' Goldman’s series chronicles the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. One thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ 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.
Goldman co-created the project with George RR Martin, whose 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novel series serves as the basis for Game of Thrones. Goldman and Martin wrote the story, with Goldman writing the teleplay. He and Martin will executive produce along with Daniel Zelman and Game of Thrones executive producer Vince Gerardis. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones creators/exec producers David Benioff and DB Weiss have no involvement in the potential offshoots.
Apart from being the screenwriter for several blockbuster hits including 'Kick Ass,' 'X-Men: First Class' and 'X-Men: Days of Future Past,' Goldman is also the author of several best-selling non-fiction books, and is a co-creator of the annual comedy special “The Big Fat Quiz of the Year” for the UK’s Channel 4.
Keeping in tune with the social and political tone of the times, it's only fitting that a woman helms the prequel project, and it could be very likely that we get to see a female protagonist for the show, something that is slowly becoming the case as we head towards a heavily female-dominated political landscape of Westeros in the upcoming season 8.
The Goldman/Martin project was one of five GOT prequels HBO had put in development, signing deals with five writers to join Martin in the development and writing of five spinoffs of the blockbuster fantasy series. The other four scribes are Max Borenstein, Brian Helgeland, Carly Wray and Bryan Cogman. Deadline speculates that another one of the scripts for a pilot of a spin-off could get the green light soon.
In an earlier interview with Deadline, when asked how many GOT prequel series HBO may go with, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys said, "Anywhere from zero to five but probably more likely around one. I’m happy with what I’m seeing but don’t have a time table yet in terms of how we’re going to make a decision.”
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more.