'Game of Thrones' Showrunners Make Surprising 'House of the Dragon' Confession
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have not actually watched the spinoff of their show, and they turned down a big paycheck as well.
Game of Thrones writers and co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss just admitted that neither of them have watched the prequel series House of the Dragon yet. The duo spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday about their upcoming Netflix original series, 3 Body Problem. When asked, they said they are still trying to keep their distance from Westeros – both professionally and as viewers.
Benioff and Weiss adapted George R.R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice and Fire into HBO's hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, even writing most of it themselves with no traditional writing staff on hand. They took most of the criticism for the way the series ended in 2019, and since then they haven't said much about the franchise publicly – even as it has grown without them. They told THR that neither of them have watched the new prequel yet, and even shared a surprising story about how they turned down credit on the series to save it and themselves from scrutiny.
Benioff and Weiss' interviewer noted that the two were contractually guaranteed to get producer credits on any Game of Thrones spinoffs, even if they didn't work on the shows at all. However, they turned those credits down for House of the Dragon in spite of the fact that they would have come with considerable paychecks. Benioff recalled: "HBO was kind of confused. I remember their lawyer saying, 'but it's just money, we're going to pay you.'"
"I don't think there's such a thing as free money for us," Weiss said, "For us, if our name is on it, especially that, while being completely detached and uninvolved, it felt like the strain that would come with that hands-off approach – with its success or failure or anything in between – was not worth it."
Benioff and Weiss both said that they haven't watched House of the Dragon yet and resisted commenting on the show in general. Benioff said that he also hasn't watched an episode of Game of Thrones since the finale aired, while Weiss admitted that he recently rewatched it with his family. However, both declined to make any new comments on the ending or how the show turned out in hindsight.
The blame for Game of Thrones' confused ending fell on Benioff and Weiss because, according to Martin, both he and HBO were hoping that the show would go on for longer. Many fans agreed that the show would have come out better with more episodes overall to flesh out its storylines and reach its conclusions, but Benioff and Weiss were apparently the ones who decided to end it when they did. Their only explanation for this has been that they envisioned the show ending with seven seasons.
For fans left unsatisfied by the show, the upcoming final books are more important than ever. Martin has made several blog posts about how the ending of his novel series will be different from the TV show, yet similar in many ways as well. He has also mentioned more progress on writing since the TV show ended and the pressure is off. There's no release date for The Winds of Winter yet, but fans are waiting eagerly. In the meantime, House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres this summer on HBO and Max. 3 Body Problem premieres on March 21, 2024 on Netflix.