Bloys also spoke at length about the potential spinoffs, or prequel series as they’re currently being referred to. None of it is particularly new information, though – we already knew that there arefour storiesbeing pitched, none of which have been presented to the network yet, fromMax Borenstein(Kong: Skull Island),Jane Goldman(Kick-Ass),Brian Helgeland(Legend) andCarly Wray(The Leftovers).A Song of Ice and FireauthorGeorge R. R. Martinwill be working on two of them, andclarifiedsome of the potential content (noDunk and Egg, for instance) back in May.
But as Bloys repeated in many different ways, the prequel series will be exploring Martin’s Westeros (and likely beyond) mythology with completely new characters, which means that one of our hopes for a prequel series focusing on Robert’s Rebellion has been shot down. But there’s still plenty to explore with the first Dragon Riders, the First Men, and areas the show hasn’t even really explored like Essos.
The most important thing is that HBO doesn’t want to oversaturate on fantasy series. Said Bloys,
“This show is very special. I’m not looking to have as many as possible. My sense right now is we would beverylucky if one of the four rises to the level that we have set. Now, theoretically, what if they’re all great? That’s a high-class problem that I’ll solve when it comes to that. But knowing what we know about the development process, that’s why we wanted to increase our odds. But I do not see a scenario where we have more than one. But again, high-class problem.”
As far as what might happen if none of the series seem suitable for development,
“I don’t know, it’s hard to say. We’ve got some really amazing writers so I’m hopeful. It would be nice to find something else there. HBO will survive with or without a prequel. But that said, the world is so rich, it’d be great if we could crack one […] I want to be mindful of overdoing it. I look at this universe as very precious resource. I do not want to overexploit it.”
Let us know what you would like to see these potential series cover from this fantasy world, and read some ofour picks here.
Game of Thronesreturns Sunday, July 16th on HBO.
