‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Show Scrapped by HBO

At least one of the many Game of Thrones spin-off projects HBO had planned is not going forward. Writer/producer Bryan Cogman said the show he was spearheading is no longer happening.

Cogman, who has three Emmys as a producer on the show, told The Hollywood Reporter he is “definitely leaving” the Game of Thrones fold. He was attached to a prequel series, but his show is “not happening and will not happen” because HBO “decided to go a different way.”

“I am done with Westeros. It’s wonderfully bittersweet,” Cogman continued. “I’ll certainly miss it, but I’m excited to go out on my own and try to be in the captain’s chair of my own projects, armed with everything I’ve learned. I’ve learned more than I could possibly imagine from eight seasons of this thing.”

Cogman has spent almost all of his recent career exclusively in the realm of Westeros, even writing the book Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones. Back in September 2017, Entertainment Weekly reported that Cogman was working on a new drama with A Song of Ice And Fire author George R.R. Martin, who created the Westeros world. It was never clear what Cogman’s project was to be about, but it was set before the events in Game of Thrones.

Cogman wrote 11 episodes of the series, including last weekend’s “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” His other episodes include “Stormborn,” “The Laws of Gods and Men” and “Kissed by Fire.”

Disney also hired him to adapt The Sword in the Stone for the Disney+ streaming service in 2015, and he signed a deal to develop projects for Amazon Studios.

“It’s been wonderful to look back and watch some of the old episodes, and see some of our old friends at the premiere recently, and to know that we’ve done something good,” Cogman told THR of his work on Game of Thrones. “We’ve done good work that people enjoy. That’s all an entertainer can ever hope for. I’m eager to start the next chapter, but a part of my heart will always live with Game of Thrones. That’s one of the reasons why this episode was so important to me. It was a goodbye and a love letter to these characters and to this cast.”

While Cogman’s project is not going forward, HBO is developing a pilot from Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class), with Martin, Vince Gerardis and Daniel Zelman joining as executive producers. The series is set thousands of years before the events in Game of Thrones and stars Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse.

According to HBO’s logline, the series will show “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’ 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.”

Game of Thrones‘ final season airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. There are only four episodes left, with the finale scheduled for May 19.

Photo credit: HBO