HBO still in “ongoing talks” for a Game of Thrones prequel series

HBO programming president Casey Bloys at the 2016 Television Critics Association Summer Tour on July 30, 2016. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

As most Game of Thrones fans know by now, we don’t have much time left in Westeros. The upcoming seventh season of the show will debut in the summer of 2017. Then an eighth and final season will air the year after. Might HBO ready a prequel or spinoff series to follow it? HBO has never made a spinoff of one of its scripted series, but considering what a huge hit the show has been, it’s considering it.

Now, Entertainment Weekly brings us an update. This morning, HBO programming president Casey Bloys announced that HBO would renewing several of its new series (Westworld, Insecure, and Divorce) for second seasons. He was also asked about the possibility of a Game of Thrones prequel, and if he knew when during the long history of Westeros it might be set..

"I would say it’s still kind of preliminary ongoing talks [with Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin]. There are areas we are exploring, but I wouldn’t point to any one and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’"

Martin himself has pointed out that “[t]here is certainly no lack of material” for spinoffs. Earlier this year, he talked optimistically about the possibility.

"There are eight million stories in Westeros as well … and even more in Essos and the lands beyond. A whole world full of stories, waiting to be told … if indeed HBO is interested."

Personally, Martin is in favor of adapting his Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas for TV, but that’s just one of the many possibilities. The novellas published thus far were recently collected into a book called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, for those interested.

Bloys fielded a couple more questions. We know that Season 7 will have seven episodes, but how many will Season 8 have? “I’ll take as much as we can get,” he said. Might the final couple of episodes of the show be released as a movie? “I want everything I can get for HBO, I’ll just leave it at that.”