Forget about winter — Naomi Watts is coming.
The two-time Academy Award nominee is set to star in a highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel series from co-creators Jane Goldman and George R.R. Martin. HBO gave a pilot order for the project ― one of five prequel series in development at the network ― in June.
Watts has been tapped to lead the cast as a “charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret,” according to multiple reports, with her character’s name being kept under wraps for now.
Set thousands of years before Jon Snow set foot in Westeros, the series will explore “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour,” the network said.
“Only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend — it’s not the story we think we know,” it continued.
A release date has yet to be announced, and don’t expect to see Watts in action anytime before 2020. HBO’s president for programming, Casey Bloys, previously said that if any pilot projects head to series, “nothing is going to air on HBO until at least a year after the final season.”
“I’ve seen some exciting material. We have really great writers working on these; it’s very exciting,” Bloys said of the “GoT” successor series. “But there’s no timetable. Not everybody is on the same schedule, so I’ve seen different versions of different things that are potentially exciting.”
The flagship is on hiatus until it returns for a six-episode final season in 2019. As for how the series will wrap up, star Emilia Clarke recently revealed that she has shot her final scene as Daenerys Targaryen.
“It fucked me up,” she told Vanity Fair. “Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavor in someone’s mouth of what Daenerys is.”
