What’s the Status of All the Other ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoffs?

Game of Thrones - Liam Cunningham and Kit Harington
HBO

More than three years after Game of Thrones came to a divisive end, HBO returned to the land of Westeros with House of the Dragon, a Targaryen-centric prequel series that debuted on August 21, 2022. Fans weren’t meant to wait this long for a Game of Thrones spinoff — or “successor show,” as author George R. R. Martin prefers to call it — but HBO didn’t have the easiest time turning its smash hit into a franchise.

Case in point: The pilot for another prequel series, the Naomi Watts-led project detailed below, cost $30 million to film, according to the James Andrew Miller book Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers (via Entertainment Weekly).

The next spinoff in development was a Jon Snow sequel series that would see Kit Harington return to his most famous role. Harington himself has said it’s been shelved, but that’s not the only tale of Westeros in development.

The next installment of this franchise will be House of the Dragon Season 2, premiering Sunday, June 16 on HBO. Here’s all there is to know about the status of all the other Game of Thrones spinoffs.

Naomi Watts-led prequel series: Not moving forward

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Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

In November 2019, HBO confirmed that it had passed on an untitled prequel series, codenamed Bloodmoon, from writer Jane Goldman (Rebecca). Also starring Miranda Richardson (Good Omens), Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), and Marquis Rodriguez (Modern Love), the series would have covered the Age of Heroes, a time thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, including man’s first battle with the White Walkers.

Casey Bloys, then HBO’s president of programming, told Deadline the following January that the project “did not quite gel.”

“That’s one of the reasons when we started out to think about ‘Is there a life after Game of Thrones in terms of Game of Thrones,’ we purposefully developed multiple projects,” he added. “We would have been very lucky to do one pilot [and] have that pilot go and be a success. But in development, as you know, it takes a lot of tries to get it right. This is no different.”

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight: In development

Previously called Dunk and Egg, this series is most likely the closest to being released after House of the Dragon Season 2. Based on Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg series of novellas, it will follow Dunk, a.k.a. future Kingsguard Lord Commander Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire Egg, a.k.a. the future king Aegon V Targaryen and great-grandfather of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), in their exploits nearly a century before the events of Game of Thrones.

“A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg,” the official logline reads. “Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”

Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell have been cast as Dunk and Egg, respectively. It’s written and executive produced by Martin and Ira Parker and has a projected release date of late 2025.

The three Dunk and Egg novellas were published separately in 1998, 2003, and 2010, and then published all in one book titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in 2015.

Flea Bottom: Not moving forward

In March 2021, Deadline reported that three spinoffs were in development under the working titles Flea Bottom, 10,000 Ships, and 9 Voyages. But development on Flea Bottom had ended by that July, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with the mag adding that it was “always the most nascent of the ideas that were made public.” As Game of Thrones fans know, Flea Bottom is the King’s Landing slum where Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) and Gendry (Joe Dempsie) grew up.

10,000 Ships a.k.a. Nymeria: In development

This series, meanwhile, is reportedly still in the works, set to center on Princess Nymeria, who brought the surviving Rhoynar people to Dorne. Amanda Segel, a TV writer who worked on The Mist, Shooter, Helstrom, and other shows, is penning the script, Variety reports. In a March 2022 update to fans on his site, Martin said Segel had already submitted “a couple drafts” of scripts.

Pedro Pascal, in character as Oberyn Martell, told Nymeria’s story in the Histories & Lore special feature on Game of Thrones Season 4 DVD set: “Thousands of years ago, the warrior queen Nymeria crossed into Dorne from Essos, fleeing the dragonlords of Valyria. After she landed, she burned her ships, all 10,000 of them, so no cowards could slink home.”

The Sea Snake a.k.a. 9 Voyages: In development

Steve Toussaint House of the Dragon

Ollie Upton / HBO

The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller is reportedly spearheading this project, which would chronicle the legendary seafaring of Corlys Velaryon, Lord of Driftmark and head of House Velaryon.

Steve Toussaint (Before We Die), seen here, is playing the character in House of the Dragon. “As ‘The Sea Snake,’ the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world,” HBO says in a character bio.

The Golden Empire and two other animated series: In development

According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO is working on three animated Game of Thrones spinoffs, including The Golden Empire, which would be set in the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, an Essos kingdom inspired by Imperial China.

“Our working title is The Golden Empire, and we have a great young writer on that one too,” Martin blogged this March. “And I think the art and animation is just going to be beautiful. I would tell you more if I could.”

Snow: Not moving forward

Game of Thrones - SEason 5- Jon Snow

HBO

Harington was set to reprise his role as the onetime King in the North. The series was also going to reportedly bring back other surviving Game of Thrones characters, including Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), and Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie).

“Currently, it’s off the table because we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough,” Harington told Screen Rant. “So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It’s firmly on the shelf.”

House of the Dragon: Season 2 Premieres in June

Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, this prequel series tells the story of House Targaryen long before Daenerys came along, with Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers) playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith (Doctor Who) playing Prince Daemon Targaryen. Paddy Considine (The Third Day) played King Viserys Targaryen, and the events following his death related to his successor plunged the Targaryen and Hightower families (led by Queen Alicent, played by Olivia Cooke) into war. The war will play out in Season 2.

Martin created the series with screenwriter Ryan Condal (Colony), the latter of whom serves as showrunner alongside Emmy-winning Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik.

House of the Dragon, Series Premiere, Sunday, August 21, HBO and HBO Max