Game Of Thrones bosses have revealed what happened to their scrapped big budget spin-off Bloodmoon.
The planned prequel series – set during Age of Heroes and The Long Night – was axed in 2019 after filming a pilot episode, which cost a reported $30-35 million to make.
Casey Bloys – HBO’s chief content officer – explained that the show “required a lot more invention”, as the author of the Game Of Thrones books, George RR Martin, had only written around eight lines of text.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said: “It was higher risk, higher reward.
“There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. Developments and pilots are hard.”
The then-chairman of HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia, Robert Greenblatt, added: “It wasn’t unwatchable or horrible.
“It was very well produced and looked extraordinary. But it didn’t take me to the same place as the original series.
“It didn’t have that depth and richness that the original series’ pilot did.”
George RR Martin, who has not seen the unaired pilot, described the show as “a very difficult assignment”.
“We’re dealing with a much more primitive people. There were no dragons yet,” he said.
The author also revealed a lot of the plot revolved around “a wedding of a Southern house to a Northern house and it got into the whole history of the White Walkers”.
In place of Bloodmoon, HBO commissioned the House Of The Dragon spin-off, which debuts next month.
Set 200 years before Game Of Thrones, the prequel series tells the story of the house of Targaryen.
The cast includes Doctor Who and The Crown star Matt Smith, Peaky Blinders actor Paddy Considine and Notting Hill star Rhys Ifans.
The 10-part first season will launch in the US on 21 August 2022 on HBO, debuting the following day in the UK.
It is one of seven Game Of Thrones spin-offs currently in the works.
Last month, it was claimed Kit Harington could reprise his role as Jon Snow as a new sequel series following the character is reportedly in early development with HBO.
House Of The Dragon will be available to stream on NOW for UK audiences.
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