Game of Thrones Prequel Pilot to Film This Summer
Perhaps the Game of Thrones prequel pilot will include the Bud Knight? Joking aside, we’ve got a little more information about the upcoming pilot. First, Game of Thrones flagship series will be beginning its final six episodes on April 14. Once we find out how the battle between the living and the dead ends, all eyes will turn towards the upcoming GoT prequel pilot. Entertainment Weekly‘s recently spoke with HBO Programming President Casey Bloys, who revealed some dates. Bloys has said that the pilot will begin filming early this summer. If HBO green lights it (almost a 100% guarantee), you can expect the full series as early as 2020—or as late as 2021.
HBO has five GoT spin-offs in development, but the untitled prequel pilot is furthest along. It’s written by Kingsman: The Secret Service‘s Jane Goldman (George R. R. Martin also has a story credit) and will be directed by Jessica Jones‘s SJ Clarkson. We learned about the full cast and crew only last month, with Naomi Watts in the lead role. HBO has released a proper synopsis for the prequel, which offers a compelling, if cryptic, picture of what’s to come:
“Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”
George R.R. Martin has bandied about the idea that it will be titled The Long Night. This refers to the decades-long winter that folks in the current series have mentioned before. It was during this seemingly endless winter that the war between the living and the White Walkers began. That battle will finally come to some kind of conclusion in the upcoming season. The prequel series will presumably show us how it all began.
We’ll share more information when we have it. Look out for a proper Game of Thrones trailer for the 8th and final season soon.
Featured image: Episode 67 (season 7, episode 7), debut 8/27/17: Emilia Clarke. Photo courtesy of HBO
