5 Game of Thrones movies we'd love to see

The other day, it was revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery, the company that owns HBO, is developing a Game of Thrones movie. To be specific, they're in early development on one, and we can't be sure that the idea will ever see the light of day; they've developed other TV spinoffs only to shelve them in the past. Still, the notion of a Game of Thrones can't help but get the gears turning. What would that look like?

We know that HBO is developing a number of potential TV spinoffs to Game of Thrones, some of which seem closer to the starting line than others. For instance, they're we know they're developing a prequel show about Aegon the Conqueror, who brought together the Seven Kingdoms some 300 years before the events of the main show and became the first Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne. His story would probably make a good movie, but since they're already working on a TV version, we'll leave it off this list.

Actually, they're developing quite a few spinoffs that could cover major events in the history of Westeros. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres next year and could conceivably cover some of the Blackfyre rebellions. They're also toying with shows about Nymeria of the Rhoynar and her 10,000 Ships, the youthful adventures of Corlys Velaryon, and even a show about the distant empire of Yi Ti. Even so, author George R.R. Martin has imagined a rich history for his fantasy world. It's full of events that could be very exciting on the big screen, and that's without touching the idea of movies that continue the story from Game of Thrones, with our favorite characters returning for new adventures.

There are a million stories out there, but here are the five we'd most like to see:

The Doom of Valyria

Centuries before Daenerys Targaryen returned to Westos, decades before her ancestor Aegon conquered the continent for the first time, the Targaryens were just one of many dragon-riding families who ruled over the Valyrian empire, the greatest and most powerful empire the world had ever known. Thanks to chance encounter with dragons, the Valyrians grew from peaceful sheep-herders to gods on earth, using their dragons to subdue the Ghiscari empire and establish unquestioned dominion over the continent of Essos.

At the height of their power, the Valyrian empire was decimated by a volcanic cataclysm that burned down their capitol city and even fried dragons in the sky. In an instant, the richest and strongest civilization in the world was no more.

The Valyrians were an incredibly proud and mighty people who got too confident and were destroyed. There's huge potential for drama here. A movie could acquaint us with several prominent members of dragon-riding families, saving special attention for the Targaryens, a minor family who had the good sense to get out of dodge before the Doom came to Valyria, heeding the warnings of Daenys Targaryen, whose prophetic dreams foretold death on the horizon.

The Doom of Valyria could work better as a movie than a show because the Doom itself would need to be visually spectacular on a level that TV couldn't quite manage, even as Game of Thrones and its prequel House of the Dragon have raised the bar for visual effects on the small screen. If WBD wants to boil out our eyes with spectacle, this is the movie they want to pick.

The Tourney at Harrenhal

If WBD wants to go for something more intimate that has a direct tie back to the original show, a movie about the Tourney at Harrenhal would be a great choice, and a good deal cheaper than a film about the Doom of Valyria.

Before Robert's Rebellion, when many of the characters we remember from Game of Thrones were young, there was a great tourney at the enormous, crumbling castle of Harrenhal. The Stark family showed up, with young Lyanna Stark possibly entering the lists in disguise. Folks like Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark, Cersei Lannister and the Mad King Aerys Targaryen all mixed together, and the climax of the event came when Rhaegar Targaryen, the crown prince of the realm, named Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty...even though his wife Elia Martell was right there. That romantic gesture would lead to a fracturing of the country that would upend Westeros for years afterward.

That's what makes the Tourney at Harrenhal such a good subject for a movie: a lot of the seemingly small exchanges that happen there add up to something much bigger. That's probably why some people are developing the idea to set a play at the tourney, although we haven't heard anything about that in a while.

And if a movie about the Tourney at Harrenhal isn't enough, plenty of fans would like to see what happens after:

Robert's Rebellion

After the Tourney at Harrenhal, Rhaegar and Lyanna run off together (or he kidnaps her, depending on whose story you believe). That's a problem because Lyanna was engaged to Robert Baratheon, who's none too happy about his fiance running off with the silver-haired dragon prince. One thing leads to another, attempts to mollify the conflict go up in smoke, and the realm plunges into war.

Lots of big things go down in this story. Robert Baratheon crushes Rhaegar at the Trident, Tywin Lannister sacks King's Landing, Daenerys Targaryen and her brother Viserys are spirted across the Narrow Sea and into hiding, and Lyanna Stark gives birth to her son with Rhaegar, a boy would grow up to be Jon Snow.

We saw that last one in flashback form on Game of Thrones itself, which does underline a weakness this story has: it's not really complete with the original show. Still, it's exciting enough on its own that it would be fun to see it brought to life in a movie or series of movies.

Arya Stark goes around the world

At the end of Game of Thrones, Arya Stark — the stab-happy fan favorite with a long list of people who have to die — headed to the western coast of Westeros, got on a ship and sailed out away for parts unknown. Had she ever been into ships before? Not particularly, but her ending was pregnant with possibilities. What would she find out there?

A movie could tell us. Westeros is roughly modeled on England, Essos on Asia and a little-explored continent called Sothoryos on Africa. Are there continents based on North and South America out there, and might Arya discover them? What are the people out there like? Are dragons just the beginnings of the wonders this world has to show us?

Or maybe Arya could pivot and head back to Braavos, where she trained to become a Faceless Man. She left that job under questionable circumstances; is that shadowing league of assassins truly done with her? Or maybe she goes around the whole world and ends up somewhere like Asshai, the mysterious darkened city that produced people like Melisandre. The possibilities are endless, which makes this a rich vein to mine.

Arya's story is a little similar to that of Elissa Farman, a woman who lived many years before her who also set sail into the unknown west. Elissa's story could also be a good subject for a movie, but Arya has that all-important name recognition. Actor Maisie Williams has said she's be open to playing Arya again under the right circumstances. Maybe a solo movie qualifies.

Jon Snow beyond the Wall

A lot of fans also want to see what happened to Jon Snow after the end of Game of Thrones, where he killed Daenerys Targaryen and was banished to the Wall as part of a compromise that kept the remaining armies in Westeros from tearing each other apart. The final shot of the show see Jon heading beyond the Wall with a group of wildlings, perhaps to drop them off before returning to Castle Black, perhaps to join them and start a new life.

What happened next? It's not just fans who are curious; actor Kit Harington came to HBO with a pitch to make a Jon Snow sequel show. In the end, they didn't end up moving forward with the idea. "We all couldn't find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough," Harington said. But they worked on the idea for a while. Maybe it wasn't a good fit for a TV show, but what about a movie?

Perhaps Jon Snow could go into the far north and find that remnants of the White Walker threat remain. Or maybe it's a more intimate story about him trying to grapple with his new place in life after finding out he was actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen; he potentially could have been king, but he chose to kill his half-sister Daenerys rather than marry her. How does that sit with him now that he's up at the Wall staring down a quiet life amidst the ice and snow?

A Jon Snow movie could rope in other characters from the show, like Jon's wildling friend Tormund Giantsbane or his half-sister, cousin Sansa Stark, who ended the series Queen in the North. Another sequel could take place in King's Landing, where Bran Stark rules with the help of his hand Tyrion Lannister, but I think Arya and Jon's stories leave the most room for further exploration.

Do Aegon's Conquest anyway

Up top I mentioned that HBO is developing several Game of Thrones prequels intended for TV. But now that movies are on the table, it's possible that some of them could migrate to the big screen. The story of Aegon I conquering the Seven Kingdoms with his sisters Rhaenys and Visenya would make an excellent movie, one that might work better as a movie than a TV show because of the number of huge, budget-busting scenes it would need to bring to life. The same could be true of Nymeria of the Rhoynar, who wanders the seas with her followers before finally settling in Dorne and burning her fleet of 10,000 ships in a sign that she had finally found her home.

There's no shortage of directions that HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery could go in if they wanted to get serious about a Game of Thrones movie. What would you most like to see?

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