A Game of Thrones movie is set for the big screen, with Warner Bros. officially developing a prequel set in the world of Westeros.
House of Cards showrunner and Andor writer Beau Willimon has been hired to write the script based on George RR Martin’s fantasy series.
According to a recent Hollywood Reporter cover story about Martin, it appears the film will be a “Dune-sized feature film” based on King Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros, which united six of the seven kingdoms some 300 years before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones pilot. HBO is simultaneously developing a rival television series inspired by the same story.
As Martin works on finishing The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, there’s been a post-Thrones gold rush to bring his world to the screen. The recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was critically acclaimed, with Stuart Heritage of the Guardian praising the spin-off as “saving the Game of Thrones universe”. Meanwhile, the third season of House of the Dragon will premiere in June.
News of the Warner Bros. prequel comes at an uncertain time for the studio in light of its recent $110 billion acquisition deal by Paramount Skydance. Paramount CEO and former Trump associate David Ellison promised the deal would “honor the legacies of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company.”
The deal has been criticized by figures on the left, including US Senator Elizabeth Warren, who called it “an antitrust disaster that threatens higher prices and fewer choices for American families.”
In 2022, HBO and actor Kit Harington were reported to be developing a Jon Snow spin-off series. In 2024, Harington said the project was “firmly ready to go,” adding, “Not all of us could find the right story to tell.” The same year, Martin wrote on his blog that HBO was also working on an animated spin-off titled Nine Voyages, but no further details have emerged.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been a record-breaking hit, with 9.5 million viewers tuning in to its finale last month. The show has been renewed for a second season and filming is underway in Belfast and Spain.
News also broke last month that the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon will also be staging a long-awaited Game of Thrones stage show this summer.
