George R.R. Martin Promises 'Game Of Thrones' Prequels And Sequels In Development Despite Not Finishing His Novels
George R.R. Martin promised that he’s working to develop Game of Thrones prequels and sequels aside from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon despite not finishing his novels.
During an appearance at the Iceland Noir festival attended by Spanish-language outlet Los Siete Reinos, Martin shared, “Aside from The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon, there are other Game of Thrones spinoff projects in development.”
“Most are prequels,” he added. “here are several in development, five or six series; and I’m not developing them alone, I’m working with other people. Yes, there are some sequels.”
The idea that a number of Game of Thrones spinoffs are in the works is not unheard of. Obviously, HBO recently announced season renewals for House of the Dragon as well as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which has not even released a single episode yet.
Additionally, back in 2019, Martin himself announced that he and HBO had “five different GAME OF THRONES successor shows in development (I mislike the term “spinoffs”) at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely.
In 2022, he shared that “There are four live-action successor shows in development at HBO. Word got out about three of them some time ago. TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, the Nymeria show, helmed by Amanda Segel. SEA SNAKE, aka NINE VOYAGES, with Bruno Heller. And the Dunk & Egg show, THE HEDGE KNIGHT or KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, with Steve Conrad writing.”
He shared that the fourth was called SNOW and had “been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now.”
“It seems as though Emilia Clarke has already mentioned that SNOW was Kit’s idea in a recent interview. So that part is out. Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us,” Martin added. “I cannot tell you the names of the writers/ showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
He then noted, “All four of these successor shows are still in the script stage. Outlines and treatments have been written and approved, scripts have been written, notes have been given, second and third drafts have been written. So far, that’s all. This is the way television works.”
While Martin is developing prequels and sequels for Game of Thrones, he still has not completed his A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. In fact, just about a year ago he joked that he might never finish it. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “Unfortunately, I am 13 years late. Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time. But that’s still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!”
I never read George RR Martin nor will I ever read his works. However, him developing spinoffs and prequels to Game of Thrones is pretty much him conceding to the fact that he can't finish the series off, nor will he ever do so. But why finish it, when you can continue to play in the sandbox of the world you have built while simultaneously avoiding bringing the main story in thay world to a close. He loves his world, but he can't bring a good closure to Game of Thrones so he is writing stories set in his world of Game of Thrones as a compromise.
So I just have one question, and forgive me if I seem dense, but how can you have a sequel to a story that isn't finished?