HBO Teases New 'Big Budget' Game Of Thrones Spinoff Series
To this point, the extended "Game of Thrones" universe has been--to use a term--disappointing.
Nearly six years have passed since the much-maligned finale of the original series and only one series has since followed. And that series, "House of Dragon," is just average. The prequel is fine but constrained by the limited number of characters, kingdoms, and regions that made the first series so groundbreaking.
A second series set in Westeros will debut later this year but will be of an even smaller scale. Titled "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," the upcoming prequel is based on George R. R. Martin's novellas in "Tales of Dunk and Egg," which are described as lighter or goofier than his high fantasy novels.
Meh.
What has "Thrones" fans most irritated is that HBO torpedoed a pitched Jon Snow sequel series starring Kit Harington, rumored to follow the events of "Game of Thrones."
Snow deserves a better ending.
A "Game of Thrones" movie reportedly is in the works. Will a "GoT" movie be made? Who will be in the cast? What will the plot be? (Credit: HBO)
Nonetheless, it sounds as if HBO is developing what could be the first worthy spinoff from the original series. This week, HBO executive Francesca Orsi teased a "big budget" series in the works centered around the Targaryen bloodline.
"We have other spinoffs that we’re working on right now, one of which — which I won’t get into — is very promising, and it is still the Targaryen line," Orsi told Deadline. "There’s a number of other spinoffs, we can’t really guarantee what’s going to go forward, but we are very big budget on the other ones."
As the website Winter is Coming notes, unless Orsi is hiding something big, she's referring to a show about Aegon Targaryen's conquest of Westeros. Aegon's conquest is the origin story of the entire "Thrones" universe, telling the tale of how the Targaryens came to rule Westeros for centuries.
Aside from Robert's Rebellion, the event in which Robert Baratheon overthrew the Targaryens and saw the birth of Jon Snow, there is not a more appealing prequel series than the idea of Aegon's Conquest.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 07: George R.R. Martin attends HBO's "House of the Dragon" FYC Screening at Directors Guild Of America on March 07, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO)
"Screenwriter Mattson Tomlin, who worked on The Batman movie as well as the Netflix show Terminator Zero, has been developing the Aegon's Conquest prequel for some time, working with Martin on the best way to tell the story. I think this show will eventually get made and air after House of the Dragon has concluded its run, and I think Orsi agrees with me," Winter is Coming reports.
Based on the source material, Aegon's conquest occurred around 300 years before the events of "Game of Thrones" and 150 years before "House of the Dragon."
According to George R.R. Martin, "Aegon's Conquest was a pivotal event in Westerosi history where Aegon Targaryen, riding his dragon Balerion, and accompanied by his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys on their dragons, effectively conquered the Seven Kingdoms by force, utilizing their superior dragon power to overwhelm and burn down castles and armies, ultimately establishing the Targaryen dynasty and the Iron Throne."
The prediction here, given the importance of the timeline, is that HBO will greenlight this project.
As for an update on Martin finishing the book series, it has been 14 years since he last published a novel. The clock is ticking.