George R.R. Martin is responsible for HBO’s biggest hit, Game of Thrones. Since the show ended, the network has been green lighting prequels to get the people hype again. Now The Hollywood Reporter shares that HBO has gotten the writer himself on lock for a contract that spans five years and is worth mid-eight figures.
Since Game of Thrones ended HBO, has worked on five projects based on Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy world, including one still in the development stage and the other, House of the Dragon, that’s been greenlit to series. Martin is also developing for HBO the series Who Fears Death, an adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s postapocalyptic novel, and Roadmarks, Roger Zelazny’s 1979 fantasy novel—both of which he will executive produce for television.
According to THR the projects in the A Song of Ice and Fire world currently in the works are:
Nymeria project: This revolves around the warrior queen Nymeria, a revered ancestor of House Martell who founded of the kingdom of Dorne (she became so legendary in the realm that two characters bore her name in the original series — Sand Snake Nymeria Sand and Arya’s direwolf). Her story is set roughly 1,000 years before the events in Game of Thrones, making it much older on the Westeros timeline than any of the other announced projects in the works (HBO shot a prequel pilot in 2019 set even further back during the Age of Heroes, but it never made it to series). The working title for the project is 10,000 Ships, a reference to Nymeria ordering all her ships to be burned after bringing her army from Essos to Dorne so there could be no turning back (Martin, a history buff, was likely inspired here by the legend that Hernán Cortés burned his 600 ships after arriving in the New World in 1519).
The Sea Snake: With a working title of 9 Voyages, this is from Rome creator Bruno Heller and follows Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka The Sea Snake, the Lord of the Tides and head of House Velaryon. The seafaring character also appears in the upcoming greenlit GoT prequel House of the Dragon, where he’s played by British actor Steve Toussaint. In Martin’s lore, Velaryon is the husband of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (played by Eve Best in House of the Dragon). So this effort represents a potential spinoff of a character from a series that hasn’t yet been shot. Also, given Toussaint’s casting, The Sea Snake could represent the first GoT project with a person of color as the lead character.
Flea Bottom: This project is set in the notorious King’s Landing slum of Flea Bottom – the maze of tight streets in the capitol city where characters like Davos Seaworth and Gendry Baratheon were born. One imagines this having a bit of a Peaky Blinders-in-Westeros vibe; something exploring the lives of everyday citizens and the criminal underworld rather than focusing on powerful lords and ladies.
Dunk and Egg project: This is based on Martin’s popular novellas (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, The Mystery Knight) that follow the adventures of the hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire (Egg), who would later become King Aegon V Targaryen. The story takes place 90 years before the events of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Fun fact: Egg’s brother was Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) in GoT and there’s a heartbreaking reference to the character when Aemon is on his deathbed in season five and says, in apparent delirium, “Egg, I dreamed that I was old.”
Animated drama series: No details yet on the subject or style of this animated project, but an animated venture gives a couple of storytelling advantages: It could portray a lavish amount of spectacle beyond even GoT standards, and/or it could tell a story that spans a considerable stretch of time — much of Martin’s previously published supplemental materials are in an encyclopedic form that sketch out thousands of years of Westeros history, a breezy storytelling style that’s far easier to portray onscreen using animation, where producers could quickly introduce new characters and settings and then rapidly move on without having to cast actors or build sets.
As a fan of Martin’s written work, I am excited to see more of his projects and projects he feels passionate about coming to life. He has a rich taste in fantasy, so I think having his name attached to projects will give them a better opportunity to be made. As a fantasy fan who has been disappointed in how little effort a lot of modern fantasy gets churned out with, I am glad for things like The Witcher and Game of Thrones for at least giving the girls a budget.
Game of Thrones ended poorly, but there is no doubt that it was an influential piece of fantasy television. My own wish is that Martin has seen the immense discourse the show has created (mostly for changes they made to this work) and he will make sure two bad writers don’t get a handle on projects like this again. The new era of fantasy should be more diverse and hopefully have a slightly more cheerful color palette.
I’m cool with sometimes having some grimdark stuff, but my goodness.
Of course, what does this mean for the Winds of Winter book and finishing up the ASOIAF series? Well, I think we’d better just stick to fan fiction for now.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Published: Mar 29, 2021 04:38 pm