HBO boss: A Game of Thrones prequel more likely than a spinoff

As we inch closer and closer to the end of Game of Thrones, the topic of a potential spinoff or prequel series has become the hot topic. Appearing on this year’s Television Critics Association press tour, HBO programming president Casey Bloys was unable to escape questions about Game of Thrones‘ future.

"All I can say is that we’re exploring it. We don’t have any scripts, we’re not even close to saying ‘Oh let’s do this.’ But it’s a big enough property that we would be foolish not to explore it. It’s a really rich world. We’d be foolish not to look at it."

Author George R.R. Martin’s work is indeed extensive, and there are more than a few stories set in Westeros that are ripe for a potential spinoff or prequel series. As Bloys noted, with the ratings and buzz surrounding Game of Thrones, HBO would have to foolish not to at least consider other corners of Martin’s world after Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen bow out of the small screen some time in 2018.

And yet, Bloys doesn’t sound 100% sold on the idea. “I’m not going to do it just to do it,” he said. “It has to feel very special. I would rather have no sequel and leave it as-is then have something we rushed out.”

"A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it [than a spin-off]. [Author George R.R. Martin’s history of Westeros] gives you areas in which to say to a writer, ‘If you were going to do this, then go flesh it out,’ and we’ll see what comes back. But I don’t feel any pressure that we have to have something."

Martin himself noted that he’s written “thousands” of pages of fake history about Westeros, and continues to write more. All of that is in addition to the Dunk and Egg prequel novellas he’s written, as well as two novellas dealing with the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons.

h/t Variety