HBO looking at four different Game of Thrones spin-offs
According to Deadline, there are several different writers working on potential spin-off properties for the show — George R.R. Martin is directly involved in some of them, according to The Hollywood Reporter — but there isn’t too much more in the way of information about them. It’s not clear if they would be prequel series, companion pieces, or take place following the events of the epic series. These projects are all in development, but that doesn’t mean that any or all of them will end up airing.
Oh, and one other thing — showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be involved as executive producers for any project that goes forward, though there aren’t expectations for them to hold the same title that they do now. They’re currently readying the seventh season (premiering this summer) while also looking ahead to the eighth and final season set for next year.
While we certainly don’t have any direct input with HBO on the subject of the Game of Thrones franchise, our sentiment is to avoid prequels at all costs. While Better Call Saul may be entertaining over on AMC, the show does still get burdened somewhat by the lack of a surprise factor. If you know what’s going to happen, the show loses much of its immediacy. That’s one of the reasons why we think that the live+same day ratings for this show are worse than the final season of Breaking Bad. (The only element of surprise that Better Call Saul has is with Gene, and we see so little of him that he hardly is a main component to the story.)
We’d love to see with Game of Thrones something smaller and more character-driven, like the life of some characters within a small town in Westeros; or, why not look at some other unexplored regions of the world mentioned in the books but not seen all that much? It seems a little soon to do a direct sequel to Game of Thrones, and that may be impossible given that some cast members may want to do other things.
Basically, all of this can be summed up with the following: HBO executives have a LOT to think about. Given that they make about a zillion dollars off of this franchise, they’ll likely try to find a spin-off property that sticks.
Surprised to hear this news so soon? Sound off in the comments below! (Photo: HBO.)