'Game of Thrones' Prequel 'Tales of Dunk and Egg' in Development for HBO

HBO is reportedly developing another Game of Thrones prequel series, Tales of Dunk and Egg. The project is in the very early stages of development, sources told Variety Thursday. The series would be based on George R.R. Martin's novellas about Ser Duncan the Tall, known as "Dunk," and the young Aegon V. Targaryen, known as "Egg." The stories are set 90 years before the events of the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

There have been three novellas featuring the characters so far, The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010). All three stores were published in a single volume called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in 2015. HBO has not found a writer or cast any of the lead roles. However, sources told Variety the project is a "high priority" for HBO. The network and Martin did not comment on the report.

Longtime Game of Thrones fans thought the Takes of Dunk and Egg would make for great material for a television show, but it was not one of the projects HBO considered when it announced plans for a flurry of Game of Thrones spin-offs in 2017. Only one of those projects has come to fruition though. Production on House of the Dragon is expected to start soon, HBO announced in December. The 10-episode show will star Paddy Considine (Peaky Blinders) as King Viserys Targaryen and is inspired by Martin's Fire & Blood book, which tracked the Targaryens' lineage. Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, and Matt Smith will also star. Danny Sapani (Black Panther) was also cast as Lord Corlys Valaryon, making Valaryon the franchise's first Black main character.

House of the Dragon is expected to start airing in 2022, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys predicted in January 2020. "They are in-room writing," Bloys told The Wrap at the time. "My suspicion is, this is looking a ways out, but my suspicion is it would be on air sometime in 2022. That's with a big asterisk, but right now, that's what I would say."

Game of Thrones fans should not be too excited just yet about a Tales of Dunk and Egg series though. Just because it is in development does not mean it will reach the small screen. In 2018, HBO ordered a pilot for Bloodmoon, created by Martin and Jane Goldman. The pilot had a stacked cast, headlined by Naomi Watts. However, in October 2019, HBO said it would not pick up the pilot to series and it never aired. In the meantime, you can catch all episodes of Game of Thrones on HBO Max.