Westeros

Via Page Six Hollywood, an interesting bit of news has come out that screenwriter Beau Willimon (House of Cards, Andor) is working on writing a script for a Game of Thrones-related film. Page Six Hollywood speculates that it’s an Aegon the Conqueror film, which is interesting given recent news that the Conquest was being developed for both film and television. We initially thought all of this was tied to HBO keeping room open to see what fit the material best, but that was with the belief that Mattson Tomlin was the writer developing it.

Aegon the Conqueror, by Amok (Roman Papusev)

Deadline has a detailed report concerning everything said in a recent interview by HBO’s Head of Drama Series & Films, Francesca Orsi, regarding the Game of Thrones franchise. Besides the usual update on House of the Dragon and its massive opening for season 3 (cameras start rolling in March, according to reports), Orsi reveals that HBO’s so bullish on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that if they renew it they may well order two seasons to be filmed back-to-back.

Interesting news broke last night that HBO is gearing up to explore the extensive history of Westeros with a new spinoff series centered around Aegon’s Conquest. According to a report from James Hibberd and Borys Kit for The Hollywood Reporter, the network has enlisted much-in-demand writer Mattson Tomlin to develop the project.

Last year, we noted news out of Variety that HBO had starting looking into bringing Aegon’s Conquest to the small screen (and, perhaps, even the big screen—a theatrical lead-in was under discussion) and actively sought a writer to head the development of this thrilling prequel series. That search seems to have ended.

The burning of Harrenhal during Aegon’s Conquest, as depicted by artist Marc Simonetti for the 2023 World of Fire and Blood Calendar

At “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin goes into some detail—as far as he’s able—as he confirms the news that a Jon Snow series is in development under the working title of Snow. In the process, he confirms that Kit Harington is the originator of the series (as revealed by Emilia Clarke in a recent BBC profile), that he and his own team of writers and consultants are working with Harington’s team, and that the project has actually been in development nearly as long as projects that we learned about last year rather than being a very new development.

There’s also some Winds of Winter information, as George notes that he was recently “back with Tyrion,” and GRRM also discusses his recent (misconstrued) remarks on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as well as continuing work on short films based on the works of the great Howard Waldrop.

A sit-down with various media outlets has provided some fresh information from Casey Bloys, HBO’s and HBO Max’s chief content officer, regarding the future of the Game of Thrones franchise, from the release date of House of the Dragon to the status of a number of projects in development. While there’s nothing really concrete, the one thing Bloys committed to is that House of the Dragon is definitely airing this year, but that the conversation has only just now started thanks to the show officially wrapping.

We’ll provide a brief bullet point of the main information that came out of the interview with Bloys:

Deadline Hollywood has the scoop: Amanda Segel (Person of Interest, Helstrom) is tackling 10,000 Ships, one of several Game of Thrones successor-shows that HBO has in the works according to reports from March. This project would feature Princess Nymeria, the legendary leader of the Rhoynar who led them from their flight from the conquering Valyrians and their dragons and ultimately established a new home when she wed Lord Mors Martell and unified Dorne. Notably, due to the death of many the men among the Rhoynar in Garin’s war, Nymeria’s fleet of ships was dominated by women, suggesting this show’s cast would be the most likely to be predominantly-female.

Most of what we know regarding Nymeria and the Rhoynar comes from our own The World of Ice and Fire (affiliate link).

About two weeks ago, we were the first to report that the long-gestating Wild Cards TV adaptation, originally set for Hulu, had moved to NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Now The Hollywood Reporter has filled in the blanks, providing details of what Hulu did with the project, why it moved from Hulu to Peacock, and what its current status is since the lead writer has moved on, and a new writer is currently being searched for.

Some salient quotes below:

Cover art by Brian Bolland for a re-release of the first edition.

UPDATE on March 4, 2021: George R.R. Martin has posted about the development of In the Lost Lands.

“Some recent piece of development news regarding George R.R. Martin has slipped out the last couple of days. First, GRRM and Kalinda Vazquez are set to develop Roger Zelazny’s novel Roadmark for HBO. A science fiction/fantasy blend, the basic concept is of a mysterious, endless road that travereses time, space, and alternate realities that travelers can use to explore and even try to change the past, present, and future.

Martin has posted about it at his “Not a Blog”, noting that it was one of five pitches he made to HBO as part of his overall development deal with them, all of them based on notable works of science fiction and fantasy that he believed could work well adapted. Vince Gerardis, who helped package Game of Thrones, will also have a co-executive credit.