Game of Thrones is winding down, with only two seasons of the show left. There’s been speculation for years that HBO has been exploring the idea of making spin-offs, and they’ve finally confirmed their intentions to continue hacking and slashing their way through Westeros.
HBO has done a deal with four writers to develop ideas for multiple Game of Thrones spin-offs - and it’s an impressive team.
The four writers are Max Borenstein (Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island), Jane Goldman (Kick Ass, Kingsman, Stardust, The Woman in Black, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Futures Past), Brian Helgeland (L.A Confidential, A Knight’s Tale, Mystic River) and Carly Wray (Mad Men, The Leftovers). Goldman and Wray will each be working individually with Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin.
HBO’s choice of writers means they are taking these spin-offs as seriously as Valyrian steel. Goldman and Helgeland have been working as screenwriters in Hollywood for a long time and have impressive credits to their names that suit Game of Thrones perfectly.
Borenstein’s coming off the back of scripting the hit Kong: Skull Island and has been an instrumental player in building a shared universe of monsters as part of the plan to eventually have Godzilla and King Kong fight each other on the big screen. Wray brings "peak TV" experience, having worked on Mad Men and The Leftovers.
Game of Thrones executive producers and showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff will be attached to the four projects, as will Martin, but will not be part of the writing staff.
“We’ll take as much or as little time as the writers need and, as with all our development, we will evaluate what we have when the scripts are in,” a spokesperson for HBO said.
There’s no word yet on what or who the spin-offs will be about, but there’s a chance one of them could be a prequel series focusing on the rule of House Targaryen and their downfall. Another option could be several series focusing on the fallout of the looming war between the houses in Game of Thrones.
If things go badly with the White Walkers, there could be a post-apocalyptic Westeros with each series following a different group of characters trying to survive. Or, if the White Walkers are defeated, one show might just focus on the house that wins the throne and the rest centre on the losers.
Anything is possible at the moment, but there are four lucky writers who get to brainstorm the future (or past) of Game of Thrones. There’s also the chance of having an entire year of Game of Thrones spin-offs. If each writer delivers a show, HBO could air one of the spin-offs every three months – that’s more Game of Thrones in a year than we’ve ever had before.
Season seven of Game of Thrones is set to premiere on 16 July.
