In just 15 days’ time, Game of Thrones will be over. Much like men, all premium video content must die.
Luckily, no one would simply walk away from the biggest TV show in the world, and we know to expect (at least) one spinoff ― or “successor show”, as author George R.R. Martin prefers to say ― to hit HBO in the next couple of years.
Programming president Casey Bloys said the plan is to develop several options and hope one of them lives up to the high bar set by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
George, who is ostensibly working on finishing the Song Of Ice And Fire book series that begat Game of Thrones, updated fans Saturday via his personal blog.
“We have had five different GAME OF THRONES successor shows in development (I mislike the term ‘spinoffs’) at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely,” he wrote.
He added: “The one I am not supposed to call THE LONG NIGHT will be shooting later this year, and two other shows remain in the script stage, but are edging closer. What are they about? I cannot say. But maybe some of you should pick up a copy of FIRE & BLOOD and come up with your own theories.”
George published Fire & Blood, a history of Westeros, the fictional setting of Game of Thrones, last year. (He went on to voice support for Veep and Gentleman Jack on HBO along with former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 candidacy.)
Details on the successors are extremely scarce, but we know they are all prequels and will not involve any of the characters we’ve met in Game of Thrones. The biggest stars, too, are not attached to any of the projects, which will feature an ensemble cast of “strong” female and male characters.
Variety reported back in October that Naomi Watts is set to star in the one Martin is not supposed to call The Long Night, which will start shooting soon. Her character is “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret” in the series, which chronicles the fictional world’s first clash with the White Walkers thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones.