Would J.J. Abrams direct one of the Game of Thrones prequels?
By Corey Smith
HBO is well on its way to bringing at least one Game of Thrones prequel series to the small screen, an as-yet-untitled show headed up by X-Men: First Class scribe Jane Goldman. Happily, A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin has repeatedly said that Goldman’s series is not the only prequel in development. And Goldman, while talented, is hardly a household name, so it’s possible we could see some Hollywood heavyweights get involved with the other shows. Hollywood heavyweights like Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams?
MTV asked Abrams about that very possibility while he was promoting Overlord, his new Nazi zombie movie, alongside director Julius Avery. Watch below:
“I’d be honored,” Abrams starts, but later clarifies that as much as he’s “in awe” of what the Thrones crew gets up to, “I probably wouldn’t want to get involved, and sort of de-mystify the thing. I just like watching it, from the outside in.” Abrams does praise the Thrones team, though, specifically Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) and casting director Nina Gold, both of whom he worked with on The Force Awakens.
So there you have it: no lens flares for Westeros. It wouldn’t have been the most far-fetched thing in the world. The guy has already worked on both Star Wars and Star Trek, two of the biggest franchises on the planet. And then we have Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss set to direct their own Star Wars movie trilogy after Thrones is over, so there’s some history of cross pollination.
As for Overlord, it looks pretty cool. And for those keeping score, the two Game of Thrones alums appearing in it are Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) and Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy). There are technically three alums in it, since actor Marc Rissman has a role in season 8. Although does that mean he’s not a Thrones alum yet? Feel free to hash out that philosophical question in the comments.
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