George R.R. Martin Discusses Game Of Thrones Prequels; Once Again Promises The Winds of Winter
by Erik Amaya
The Long Night may be coming to Westerosi history.
A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin took to his website early on Monday to clarify his involvement in HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, his involvement and the title he would prefer for the show. “My vote would be The Long Night, which says it all, but I’d be surprised if that’s where we end up. More likely HBO will want to work the phrase “game of thrones” in there somewhere.”
The potential series will focus on the world of Ice and Fire’s previous Long Night — 5-to-10 thousand years before the events of Game of Thrones — when the Age of Heroes fell to ruin as the White Walkers and a long winter ravaged the land. The series pilot was written by Kick-Ass‘s Jane Goldman from a story by Goldman and Martin. Goldman will run the show should HBO pick up the pilot. But as some may recall, Goldman’s pilot script was one of five series pitches the cable outlet was developing. According to Martin, one of the pitches has been “shelved” while the other three, “set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development.”
“Everything I am told indicates that we could film at least one more pilot, and maybe more than one, in the years to come,” he continued. “We do have an entire world and tens of thousands of years of history to play with, after all. But this is television, so nothing is certain.”
Meanwhile, fans eagerly awaiting the sixth book in the Ice and Fire cycle, The Winds of Winter, will not find themselves waiting any longer for the book because of the television developments. “If I wasn’t busy with Winds, don’t you think I’d be scripting one or more of these pilots myself? It’s not as if I’ve never written for TV…” said Martin. Of course, fans will still be waiting on the author’s usual pace. Despite making the book his top priority, readers have been waiting seven years for its release. Martin previously said the novel will not be published in 2018; leading some to doubt it will ever emerge from his process. Or, at the very least, remain unpublished until Game of Thrones concludes sometime next year.
(h/t EW)