Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin reveals HBO scrapped ambitious plans for movie trilogy in cinemas

The final season was famously panned and will go down as one of the biggest pop culture disappoints of all time. From a rogue coffee cup to various plot holes, it’s hard to pinpoint just one moment in the fantasy epic’s failure.

But Game of Thrones could have bowed out in the most epic of send-offs, screening in cinemas worldwide.

Martin, who created Westeros and all the dramas within it, told German publication Welt how the TV adaptation of his novels was supposed to pan out.

‘[HBO showrunners] David Benioff and Dan Weiss wanted to finish the saga with three movies after season 7,’ Martin explained, translated by Reddit user mellycafe. ‘Game of Thrones was supposed to end in cinema. It was seriously discussed four to five years ago.’

So what happened? Surely there was billions to be had at the box office.

According to Martin, HBO stressed they work in TV not movies even though, as he pointed out, they’ve produced several films – even if for the small screen – such as Deadwood: The Movie.

Weiss and Benioff openly discussed plans to bring Game of Thrones to cinemas shortly after season three.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, they spilled: ‘It’s what we’re working towards in a perfect world. We end up with an epic fantasy story but with the level of familiarity and investment in the characters that are normally impossible in a two-hour movie.’

Would it have made a difference? We’ll never know. Nor will we ever watch the alternative ending the entire cast filmed, which we are still gagging for.

Game of Thrones is available to stream on NOW TV.

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