George R.R. Martin teases Targaryen spinoff—”All the signs are good”

Last week, the news came out that HBO was close to giving a pilot order to a second Game of Thrones prequel series, the first — tentatively titled Blood Moon, or maybe The Long Night, depending on what camp you’re in — being about the first time the White Walkers ravaged Westeros thousands of years before the main show kicks off. This new series would take place much more recently and would trace the history of the Tagaryen dynasty, drawing much of its material from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.

So we all spent a weekend freaking out about that. Today, Martin came out and confirmed that the reports are true…well, pretty much. “Yes, I can confirm that HBO put several GAMES OF THRONES successor shows in development at one point,” he wrote on his Not a Blog. “There were four to start with. Then five. Then three. I’ve said all that before. Jane Goldman’s as yet untitled show, which I am still not supposed to call THE LONG NIGHT, is one of those. The pilot on that one wrapped a month ago and has been in post-production. I am expecting to see her first cut soon. (Last month in Belfast, I got a behind-the-scenes look at some of her sets, and they were spectacular).”

As for the new show, Martin would only confirm that it has a title. “But it’s not the obvious title.” Okay, so it’s not Fire & Blood. Internet, we are now accepting title ideas.

According to Martin, the new series “has a script and a bible, and both of them are terrific, first rate, exciting.

"They’re the work of RYAN CONDAL. I first met Ryan when he came to New Mexico a couple of years ago to shoot a pilot for a fantasy western called THE SIXTH GUN, based on the comic book.   That show did not go, though I had the pleasure of screening the pilot at my theatre, the Jean Cocteau. Later we also did a premiere for COLONY, the aliens-in-LA series that Ryan created and ran. He’s a helluva strong writer, and a huge fan of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, Dunk & Egg, and Westeros in general. I’ve loved working with him, and if the Seven Gods and HBO are kind, I hope to keep on working with him for years to come on this new successor show, the title of which is…"

But of course he doesn’t say, because he is a cruel and unforgiving geek god. “I can say that there will be dragons. Everyone else has said that, so why not me?”

"I do want to point out that “moving closer to a pilot order” is NOT the same thing as “getting a pilot order.”  Would that it were.   This is encouraging, this is exciting, but don’t buy the couch just yet.   When HBO actually gives us a pilot order, you will hear me shouting it from the rooftops.   A series order, and I’ll be shouting even louder.    But we’ll see.   Right now all the signs are good, but nothing is confirmed."

Martin also takes care to point out that just because HBO is considering ordering another Game of Thrones show to pilot doesn’t mean that Goldman’s show isn’t moving forward. “If that’s so, no one has told me. I don’t think it’s so.” Overall, Martin seems enthusiastic about the possibility of more than more Game of Thrones show on the air. “Or hell, maybe three or four.”

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As ever, I find Martin’s willingness to speak out about HBO’s plans before the network itself makes any kind of official comment absolutely stark raving hilarious. George R.R. Martin gonna George R.R. Martin, and we get to enjoy it.

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