George R. R. Martin On Those ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel TV Series

Author George R. R. Martin seems to be spending a lot of time writing on his personal blog again, after vowing not to.  We’re not complaining really, because some of the reveals have been interesting.

Most recently, we found out that a Game of Thrones prequel series had gotten the pilot order from HBO, and that Martin along with Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass) will be writing the pilot, and if all goes well, more than likely additional episodes.

Over on Martin’s “not a blog” blog, he spoke about both the pilot order and the additional GoT prequel series(eseseses) that had been announced last year, and updated on the status of those:

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).

As to the other series:

“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.”

He finishes out the entry by remarking on the elephant in the virual room, the lack of progress/update on the long anticipated next book in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series, “Winds of Winter”:

(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.