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A new book reveals that HBO’s first planned Game of Thrones prequel was canceled after the network had already spent $30 million on the pilot.
HBO’s first planned Game of Thrones spinoff was canceled only after the network had already spent $30 million on the pilot.
Back in June of 2018, HBO ordered a pilot for a Game of Thrones prequel series, the first of multiple planned spinoffs. Naomi Watts was cast in the lead role by October 2018, with production on the pilot getting underway as of June 2019. However, HBO abruptly pulled the plug on the series in October 2019. Written by Jane Goldman and George R.R. Martin, the spinoff would have been set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, taking place during “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.”
For his new book Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, journalist James Andrew Miller interviewed Bob Greenblatt, WarnerMedia’s former chairman of entertainment. Greenblatt revealed the hefty amount HBO spent on the pilot, which was never ordered to series is unlikely to ever be released to the public.
“They had spent over $30 million on a Game of Thrones prequel pilot that was in production when I got there,” Greenblatt said. “And when I saw a cut of it in a few months after I arrived, I said to [HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys], ‘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.”
Greenblatt continued, “So we unfortunately decided to pull the plug on it. There was enormous pressure to get it right and I don’t think that would have worked.”
Despite its first planned Game of Thrones prequel getting the axe (and apparently costing a lot of money), HBO is still very much moving forward on another Game of Thrones spinoff: House of the Dragon, a prequel series focusing on House Targaryen. Starring the likes of Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans and more, House of the Dragon is expected to premiere its 10-episode first season on HBO in 2022.
Based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, Game of Thrones premiered on HBO in April 2011. The series ran for eight seasons, concluding in May 2019. While the show’s earlier seasons were met with high praise from fans and critics like, its later seasons — particularly its eighth and final season — were met with much criticism from both.
Source: Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, via Insider
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