When Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, sat down for a recent interview, he knew fans would come with questions about the Game of Thrones spinoff pipeline. Rumors have been swirling about everything from Jon Snow and Arya Stark sequels to animated projects and royal conquest stories.
But Bloys isn’t here to fuel speculation. Instead, he’s setting the record straight about what “development” actually means in the television world. “Well, since you’re asking, you know what my answer is going to be, is that we don’t really talk about development,” Bloys says. But he adds one crucial point that changes how fans should think about HBO’s spinoff strategy.
Quick read:
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Casey Bloys emphasizes HBO is “very judicious” about what they actually produce
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He clarifies there have only been TWO Game of Thrones spinoffs: House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
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Bloys says “this is not Marvel level” with four series a year
HBO’s careful approach to Game of Thrones spinoffs
Fans of Game of Thrones might assume HBO is pumping out spinoff after spinoff, especially with the recent launch of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. But Casey Bloys wants everyone to understand the difference between what’s being talked about and what’s actually happening. “And I do like to remind people that there have been exactly two spinoffs, House of the Dragon, and then The Seven Kingdoms which launched two weeks ago,” Bloys explains via Deadline. That’s it. Two shows that have actually been produced and released.
What fans often confuse is the development phase with production. “Sometimes, because of the intense interest in development, I think people get confused and believe that development means something is actually in production,” Bloys says.
Casey Bloys at TCA 2018
Image: David Buchan/Shutterstock
Development is when ideas are being explored, scripts are being written, and pitches are being considered. It doesn’t mean cameras are rolling or that anything has been greenlit. That confusion leads to endless speculation about projects that may never see the light of day.
Why HBO won’t match Marvel’s release schedule
This distinction matters because Casey Bloys is drawing a clear line between HBO’s strategy and the volume model that Marvel Studios uses. “So I just want to be clear about that we’ve been very, very judicious about shows that we produce,” Bloys says. “We’ll develop a lot because we want to give ourselves the best chance of finding a show that makes sense, but we have not produced all that much. This is not Marvel level, four series a year, or anything like that.” HBO isn’t trying to be Marvel. They’re not aiming for quarterly releases or multiple shows dropping simultaneously.
Instead, HBO focuses on quality over quantity. They develop many projects to find the right ones, but they’re extremely selective about what moves forward. “Sometimes people confuse development speculation with actual shows being produced,” Bloys adds. That confusion creates noise and false expectations. For fans eager for more Westeros content, this means managing expectations about what’s actually coming versus what’s just being discussed behind closed doors.
Read next: AKOTSK showrunner hopes GRRM keeps writing Dunk and Egg stories but what about The Winds of Winter?
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