Westeros

In his most recent Not a Blog entry, GRRM ran over various items of note—including Fire and Blood in getting back into the NYT bestseller list, the successful release of Starport (and the possibility that follow-ups may indeed be a possibility, which we noted  in our review of the graphic novel), and even a touch of politics at the end—but for the Game of Thrones fans what must have turned out was his update on the status of various Game of Thrones successor shows.

As we know, five successors were put into development by HBO to maximize the chances of finding at least one that felt right to them. Now George indicates that two have fallen by the wayside:

The one going forward is helmed by Jane Goldman. We know that Bryan Cogman has moved on from his project—he was the fifth one, after initial reports of just four in development—so that would apparently be one of them. That leaves one of the three remaining as being out.

Brian Helgeland discussed his development project a bit last year, and it sounded as if it was still being worked on then but a lot can happen in a year. It’s worth noting that in March it was announced that Helgeland was hired to write and direct a film for Netflix, which might be indicative that he’s moving on as well. Similarly, however, Max Borenstein is the writer of sports drama based on the 1980s L.A. Lakers which HBO just ordered to pilot, and presumably if they make a series order Borenstein will be involved in some capacity. So perhaps his project is the one that’s dead. As to Carly Wray, in November she was set to script an adaptation of the crime novel Barbed Wire Heart for Margot Robbie, but this feels like the sort of thing a writer can do while developing another project.

We’ll have to wait and see if HBO is willing to reveal anything more in the coming weeks or months, but it seems likely they’ll at least wait for the series to end and perhaps the first pilot to begin primary photography before they announce decisions on whether they order more pilots.