With the writers’ and actors’ guilds on strike, most Hollywood productions are on hiatus. As a result, the interconnected Thrones-verse Warner Bros. Discovery has been working toward since 2019 might be in danger thanks to a tumultuous merger and this historic Hollywood shutdown.
HBO’s tentpole series House of the Dragon is still filming Season 2 in the United Kingdom, as its scripts are completed, and its actors work under the local British union. However, production is continuing without Thrones architect and vocal Writers Guild member George R. R. Martin, who revealed this week that his overall deal with HBO has been suspended. He won’t be able to work on developing any of the Game of Thrones spinoffs announced by HBO while the strike is on, which at least gives him plenty of time to continue not working on The Winds of Winter.
Warner originally had about 10 Thrones-related projects in the works, including a stage play and an animated spin-off. About four are still being developed, while the rest, according to Martin, were shelved by December 2022. Which of the remaining project have a chance to survive, and which could also go up on the shelf?
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight appears to be the Thrones spin-off that’s the farthest along. The series is based on Martin’s more lighthearted Dunk and Egg novellas, and it’s the only series that’s received a series order since House of the Dragon. Odds are still pretty good that we’ll see this one sooner or later, but as long as Hollywood remains on strike we would emphasize later.
Snow
The most anticipated series in development may be the Jon Snow sequel series, aptly titled Snow, which will likely follow Kit Harington’s Prince That Was Promised on a voyage of self-discovery. Harington himself has apparently spearheaded the series from the beginning, but Martin is also involved with development.
“It was Kit Harington who brought the idea to us,” Martin said in 2022. “I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners … but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
Not much else is known about the series, or how far along it is. Snow hasn’t been greenlit yet, and that likely won’t change as long as the Writers Guild is striking.
The Sea Snake
Another series that’s been announced is The Sea Snake, a prequel to House of the Dragon that will follow a younger Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) on the nine voyages that earned him the name The Sea Snake.
So far, Bruno Heller and Martin are the only names attached to the project. Heller is known for his work on The Mentalist, Rome, and Gotham, so it’ll be interesting to see how his previous work translates to a high fantasy period drama. But again, don’t expect to hear more until the strikes end.
10,000 Ships
HBO has also been developing a prequel series centered on Nymeria, the warrior princess who founded the kingdom of Dorne centuries before the events of Game of Thrones. Only showrunner Amanda Segel has been attached to the series, and that was back in 2021.
If 10,000 Ships, The Sea Snake, or Snow do get picked up, it won’t be for a while. Development is effectively halted until studios make a deal with writers and actors, which could be quite some time. Hopefully, these projects eventually see the light of day, but fair wages for creators are the current priority.
