HBO has plans for the future of the Game of Thrones franchise, including new spinoffs to go along with the upcoming House of the Dragon prequel. HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys spoke about a variety of topics swirling around HBO, from the recent controversy surrounding Joss Whedon (who has a new HBO series The Nevers coming out), to just what kind of game plan HBO has for the Game of Thrones franchise. According to Bloys: “George R.R. Martin has created a very large and detailed universe. What’s great about it is there are roadmaps and histories and characters that lend themselves to adapting for TV.”
However, in her full statement, Casey Bloys also makes it clear to EW that HBO is not looking to build some kind of Game of Thrones Universe, with a preset number of prequels, or spinoffs. Instead, the studio is looking to harness the best storytelling ideas:
Here’s what I would say about Game of Thrones. As you know, George R.R. Martin has created a very large and detailed universe,” Bloys explains. “What’s great about it is there are roadmaps and histories and characters that lend themselves to adapting for TV. And you know we’ve got House of the Dragon coming, we start shooting in April.”
But when it comes to expanding the Game of Thrones Universe, HBO is going with a ‘one good show at a time,’ approach, according to Bloys:
“I rather not come up with like an arbitrary number — I want three shows or five shows or 10 shows or whatever it is. I really try to talk to the team about what are the stories we’re telling, what are the characters worth highlighting? The number of shows that I want are the number of shows that are good. So I try to let that be our guide as opposed to picking a number and working backwards. If the show is good, that’s what we’ll do.”
And when it comes to a Game of Thrones movie? Bloys makes it clear: “Nope. That’s not something we’ve talked about.”
That’s not just programming strategy that Casey Bloys is laying down: it’s wisdom fashioned by hard lessons HBO has already learned about managing the Game of Thrones franchise. The studio already put in the time, effort, and money to produce one Game of Thrones prequel series, set when the Age of Heroes fell into The Long Night. That series (starring Oscar-winner Naomi Watts) finished a global shoot and pilot episode – which had the effect of making HBO cancel the series altogether.
So, if anything has to be learned from the controversial final season of Game of Thrones and the failed Age of Heroes pilot, it’s that quality control should indeed be the franchise’s number one priority.
