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There's only two more shortened seasons of Game of Thrones to go and you might be panicking about what you'll watch once it's all over.
But there's hope: HBO has confirmed that four writers have been asked to develop spin-off ideas, with creator George RR Martin himself attached to the project.
It's not a surprise, really. It would be mad for the network not to keep the franchise going, given that Game of Thrones is the biggest show it's ever had — bigger even than the likes of The Sopranos and The Wire.
The question is whether any spin-off show would actually be any good. History suggests it could go either way.
Breaking Bad's prequel Better Call Saul, now in its second season, was an instant hit with critics and viewers. But the Walking Dead's attempt to expand its franchise with Fear The Walking Dead has been less successful.
The four writers involved in the search for a Game of Thrones spin-off all have decent CVs:
- Max Borenstein wrote the screenplay for Godzilla
- Carly Wray is a writer for Mad Men and The Leftovers
- Jane Goldman co-wrote the screenplays for Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kick-Ass
- Brian Helgeland wrote and directed the Tom Hardy star vehicle Legend
There's no word yet on what the specific ideas are. But we do know the writers have plenty to work with. Martin says he's sitting on thousands of pages of history from the Game of Thrones universe.
"There's a wealth of material there and I'm still writing more," he said at the Emmys last year.
There are three possible directions the writers could take: prequel, spinoff, or sequel.
Options for prequels include:
- Dunk and Egg: Martin has already written a series of fantasy adventure stories featuring the future king Aegon Targaryen as "Egg" and his adventure-prone friend Duncan the Tall, or "Dunk", set 90 years before Game of Thrones
- Robert's Rebellion: The uprising against the Targaryen dynasty which resulted in Robert Baratheon's ascent to the Iron Throne, set 17 years before Game of Thrones
- Rhaegar and Lyanna: The story of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, glimpsed in the most recent season of Game of Thrones
For the spinoffs (which would need to take place at the same time as the events depicted throughout the run of Game of Thrones), fans have speculated on:
- A series focusing more on the Brotherhood without Banners
- A series answering the question Where was Gendry All This Time?
- A series looking at the travels and adventures of Oberyn Martell, aka season four's Red Viper. (But, please, not the Sand Snakes.)
As for sequels, that all depends on how the current series wraps up.
The seventh season premieres on July 17.
Topics: television, united-states
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