Upcoming Game of Thrones spinoffs: Beyond House of the Dragon

It’s always risky to release a spinoff of a popular TV series, but HBO and HBO Max have done it with the first season of House of the Dragon. The prequel to the fantasy series Game of Thrones has been both a critical and ratings success in its first season, and a second season is in the works. But did you know that even more Game of Thrones spinoffs may be on the way?

That’s right, folks. Warner Bros, HBO, and HBO Max are working on a ton of Game of Thrones spinoffs set in the fantasy world of Westeros and even beyond those lands. In fact, the studio has already filmed a pilot for another spinoff show but decided not to move it forward to a full series in favor of House of the Dragon. We will talk about that pilot, plus all the other shows and movies that are reportedly in development. Some are prequels, and at least one is actually planned as a sequel to the original series, starring one of its original actors as well. In the meantime, you can catch up on both Game of Thrones and the first season of Blood of the Dragon right now on HBO Max.

Game of Thrones spinoffs

Bloodmoon (Canceled)

Before House of the Dragon was announced, HBO took pitches from several writers for their ideas for a Game of Thrones spinoff series. In June 2018, Entertainment Weekly reported that HBO had picked one. George R.R. Martin, the man who wrote the original A Song of Ice and Fire novels that were the basis for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, was listed as co-creator of the new series. The other co-creator was Jane Goldman, who wrote or co-wrote scripts for many popular genre films, including Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The series itself was set thousands of years before the Game of Thrones series. According to HBO’s official description, the prequel would show “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.” We would see the true origins of the original series’ biggest villains, the White Walkers, along with other revelations. The show had the production title of Bloodmoon. Other possible titles that were suggested were Age of Heroes and The Long Night.

In June 2019, EW reported that the pilot for the series had started filming in Northern Ireland. The cast was led by Naomi Watts, who has starred in movies like Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, along with The Ring and its sequel. She also was the star of TV shows such as the third season of Twin Peaks on Showtime and most recently, the Netflix limited series The Watcher. While her character was never named, Variety reported that she was playing “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.”

Other cast members that were named in the entertainment business trade press included Miranda Richardson, Jamie Campbell Bower, and John Simm. The director for the pilot was S. J. Clarkson, an experienced TV director of shows like Jessica Jones, Dexter, Succession, and others. HBO reportedly spent over $30 million to film the pilot episode.

However, in October 2019, HBO unexpectedly announced that the network was not moving forward with the series and instead gave a full series order to House of the Dragon. What happened? IGN reports that, in an interview for a book about the history of HBO, former WarnerMedia chairman Bob Greenblatt said he saw an edited version of the pilot after it was completed. Afterward, he told Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief content officer. “”This just doesn’t work, and I don’t think it delivers on the promise of the original series.’ And he didn’t disagree, which actually was a relief.” There have also been unconfirmed rumors that the pilot had issues with going over budget, and some other creative differences.

The Hedge Knight (Tales of Dunk and Egg)

Deadline reported in January 2021 that HBO had started developing a Game of Thrones spinoff show based on a series of George R.R. Martin’s novellas called Tales of Dunk and Egg. The series follows Dunk (Ser Duncan the Tall) and Egg (the future king Aegon V. Taregaryen) in a series of adventures set 90 years before Game of Thrones begins. In March 2022, Martin confirmed on his “Not a blog” that the series was still in development, with Steve Conrad (Wonder, The Weather Man) as the main writer. Martin also says that the real title of the show could be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms or The Hedge Knight.

Ten Thousand Ships

Another live action series in development is this prequel show. It will center on the journey of 10,000 ships, led by Princess Nymeria of the Rhoynar. She is trying to find a new home for her kingdom after getting defeated by the ancestors of the Targaryen family. Deadline first reported in May 2021 that Amanda Segel (Helstrom, Person of Interest) was writing up this series proposal, and Martin confirmed in his March 2022 blog post that it was still in development.

The Sea Snake

Yet another of the spinoff shows is actually a prequel of sorts to House of the Dragon. It would feature a young version of Corlys Velaryon, a.k.a. The Sea Snake, as goes on adventures beyond the land of Westeros. Steve Toussaint plays the older version of this character in House of the Dragon. Deadline first reported on this show in March 2021. Bruno Heller, who developed the DC Batman shows Gotham and Pennyworth, is in charge of this prequel show. Martin once again confirmed this show is still in active development as of March 2022.

Flea Bottom (Canceled)

One proposed spinoff that has been mentioned in the show business media sites is apparently not going forward. Flea Bottom was going to be set in the popular Westeros city of King’s Landing, but in its lowest slum district. While industry sites first mentioned it was in development by HBO in early 2021, The Hollywood Reporter said the series had ended development in July 2021.

Snow

Perhaps the most interesting of the Game of Thrones spinoffs that have been announced is an actual sequel to the original TV show. The Hollywood Reporter first revealed in June 2022 that a series centering on Game of Thrones’ popular character Jon Snow was in active development. Kit Harington, who played Snow in the original series, is set to star in this sequel show. Martin soon confirmed the news, and that the working title for the series was called Snow. Martin also confirmed that Harington actually brought the proposal of the series to him and HBO, complete with his own writing team.

At the end of the Game of Thrones series, we see Snow join the Wildlings to travel north beyond The Great Wall. Presumably, we would see his adventures in this period of the character’s life in the sequel show. It’s also possible that, if this does indeed launch as a series, we could see other Game of Thrones actors reprise their roles for this show as well.

Yi Ti and other animated projects

While all the shows we have mentioned previously are live-action series, Warner Bros is also developing some animated Game of Thrones projects as an exclusive to the HBO Max streaming service. One of the animated series is reportedly set in the Imperial China-inspired land of Yi Ti. The Hollywood Reporter stated in July 2021 that, in addition to Yi Ti, two more animated projects are in development, but there’s no word on what they will be like. Martin confirmed that the animated projects were in the works as of June 2022.

Game of Thrones Broadway show

Along with all the HBO and HBO Max projects, a stage version of Game of Thrones is in the works. The Hollywood Reporter stated in March 2021 that Martin was developing a story for the play, alongside partners like writer Duncan MacMillan and director  Dominic Cooke. The story will be set 16 years before the TV series and will chronicle the Great Tourney at Harrenhal. The play will feature several characters that later appeared, story-wise, in Game of Thrones. The story said the play was to be shown on Boardway, the West End in London, and Australia in 2023. It’s been a while since the last update on the play version, but there’s nothing so far to indicate that it’s not going forward.

That’s a quick look at the many, many Game of Thrones spinoffs that are in some kind of development, plus a couple of notable canceled projects. It’s important to note that the only prequel project that will definitely get made is the second season of House of the Dragon. All of the rest of these spinoff projects are in various stages of development, and it’s possible many, if not all, of them, could not go forward. We will update this post when we get updates on any of these efforts.