'Game of Thrones' Showrunners Won't Do Prequel or Spinoff: 'For Us, This Is It'
Sorry, HBO, you can't milk these guys for more. "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss just shut the door on the idea of leading a new set of stories in George R.R. Martin's universe. They're pretty sure someone will tell those stories, but it will not be them.
D&D just picked up a few more Emmys last night -- including for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series as the writers of "Battle of the Bastards." That helped GoT set a new Emmys record as the most awarded primetime series ever. But it sounds like, after the currently filming Season 7 and the final Season 8, they want their lives back.
Speaking backstage, Benioff answered a question on a possible prequel to "Game of Thrones." in his answer (via TVLine), he tossed the ball back to author GRRM:
"You might want to ask George about that. It's a great world that George created. It's a very rich world. I'm sure there will be other series set in Westeros. But for us, this is it."
Back at HBO's TCAs summer press tour, new programming president Casey Bloys had discussed the idea of a spinoff: "We've talked about it," he said (via TVLine) of himself and the showrunners. "It's something I'm not opposed to, but it has to make sense creatively. I'm open to it. The guys aren't opposed to it, but there's no concrete plans."
It sounds like concrete has now been poured on the idea of D&D being the showrunners to lead any prequel/spinoff.You have to admire their ability to set boundaries and know exactly what they do and don't want. HBO didn't want them to end the series at Season 8. They probably didn't want the seasons to be shortened either, but the showrunners have a vision and they are sticking with it, despite the money HBO is probably willing to throw at them, and the further accolades they could pick up.
They are even going to have to sit out next year's Emmys because they moved the Season 7 shooting schedule up to capture the real winter of Westeros's winter. That will push the Season 7 premiere up to the point where it misses the deadline for the 2017 awards. They don't care about that. They care about the story. That's awesome.
So good for them, and bad for us, that they don't want to be the ones to continue. But that's a huge opportunity for someone out there, 'cause GRRM does have a ton of stories worth adapting -- many set before the events of "Game of Thrones," but someone could also put their imagination to good use to look further ahead in time to the stories not yet told.
Meanwhile, Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) was at the Emmys and said she was "speechless" when she read the Season 7 scripts. Apparently that was a good thing, since she promised fans will be "really satisfied."
Want more stuff like this? Like us on Facebook.