![TV HANDOUT: GAME OF THRONES - SEASON 8. Arya Stark [Maisie Williams]](https://bendthekneegot.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/game-of-thrones-spin-off-for-arya-stark-shut-down-by-hbo-boss.jpg)
Game Of Thrones may have seemingly seeded room for an Arya Stark spin-off in the season eight finale, but those dreams have been swiftly shattered by HBO.
The season eight finale saw Arya (Maisie Williams) reveal how she planned to venture west ‘where the map of Westeros ends’ – leaving behind her siblings Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and Sansa (Sophie Turner).
Considering no-one knows what lies beyond the map, it left many to speculate whether this could be teeing up one of the many planned spin-offs for the future.
HBO programming president, Casey Bloys, however, has since strolled up to the party and popped the balloons – explaining how they don’t want to pursue any spin-off shows connected to characters from Game Of Thrones.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about if an Arya spin-off could be on the cards, Casey said: ‘Nope, nope, nope. No. Part of it is, I do want this show – this Game Of Thrones, Dan and David’s show – to be its own thing.
‘I don’t want to take characters from this world that they did beautifully and put them off into another world with someone else creating it.
‘I want it to let it be the artistic piece they’ve got. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not trying to do the same show over. George has a massive, massive world; there are so many ways in. That’s why we’re trying to do things that feel distinct – and to not try and redo the same show.
‘That’s probably one of the reasons why, right now, a sequel or picking up any of the other characters doesn’t make sense for us.’
The only confirmed spin-off is a prequel set thousands of years before Game Of Thrones, penned by screenwriter Jane Goldman and Game Of Thrones author George RR Martin.
The show, which stars Naomi Watts and John Simm, is said to start filming in ‘early summer’, with a release date expected at the earliest in 2020.
You can catch-up on episodes of Game Of Thrones on NOW TV.
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