George R. R. Martin has spilled the beans on those 'Game of Thrones' spin-offs
First of all, there are five in the works, not four
The spin-offs are coming, but don’t call them spin-offs, alright?
Following the news that HBO has signed off four writers to begin work on four possible Game of Thrones prequel series, we’ve now heard from George R. R. Martin on the matter.
The author has published a lengthy blog post that addresses everything in the recent GoT rumour mill, which he begins by confirming that a number of scripts, all set in the “secondary universe” of Westeros, are in development, but he doesn’t subscribe to the idea that they will be ‘spin-offs’.
“None of these new shows will be 'spinning off' from GoT in the traditional sense. We are not talking Joey or AfterMASH or even Frazier or Lou Grant, where characters from one show continue on to another,” explained the 68-year-old. “So all of you who were hoping for the further adventures of Hot Pie are doomed to disappointment. Every one of the concepts under discussion is a prequel, rather than a sequel. Some may not even be set on Westeros. Rather than 'spin-off' or 'prequel,' however, I prefer the term 'successor show.' That's what I've been calling them.”
Writers Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray are all working on their own projects, but contrary to news reports that claimed Martin would be co-writing two of them, the blog revealed that he was in fact involved in all four. Or five. Martin said when he left LA last week a fifth script had been added to the mix, the writer of which is being kept a secret. Martin promised fans: “He's a really terrific addition, however, a great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda, I don't know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does.” Big call George. Big call.
He also refrained from talking about what the spin-o.. successor shows are going to focus on, but we’re not getting a TV adaptation of the Dunk and Egg novellas, and we’re not getting Robert's Rebellion. The internet consensus when the news broke was that these were perhaps the two strongest contenders for commissions, so it’s back to the drawing board for the Thrones theorists.
And finally, there were assurances from the author that he is definitely still working on the long-awaited and much, much-anticipated sixth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. It’s fair to say he wanted to emphasise this point.
“I will confess, I do wish I could clone myself, or find a way to squeeze more hours into the day, or a way to go without sleep,” he added. “But this is what it is, so I keep on juggling. WINDS OF WINTER, five successor shows, FIRE AND BLOOD (that's the GRRMarillion, remember?), four new Wild Cards books, some things I can't tell you about yet... it's a good thing I love my work.”
