Fans who were excited for more Game of Thrones content might want to take a deep breath before they keep reading. The prequel series starring two-time Academy Award nominated actress Naomi Watts is no longer moving forward at HBO. Showrunner and writer Jane Goldman has reportedly been emailing the cast and crew to tell them that the pilot has been axed and while this still has yet to be officially confirmed by the network, it’d seem that the planned show is essentially dead.
The unnamed project was written by the aforementioned writer of Kingsman along with the author of the original book series George R. R. Martin. It was scheduled to take place thousands of years before the events we already saw unfold onscreen during the original show’s run and was given the green light back in June of 2018. All things considered, it seemed destined to be another huge hit for HBO.
Goldman’s creation was picked among several Game of Thrones prequel scripts that’d been commissioned by the cable network. In September, HBO approved a second prequel project written by Martin and Ryan Condal, which is reportedly being set a mere 300 years before the events in the beloved series and chronicles the steady downfall of the House of Targaryen. It’s currently unknown if it’s still moving ahead, though.
The cancellation of the Naomi Watts-led prequel may’ve had something to do with the lengthy post-production and rumors about issues during filming in Northern Ireland. This, however, isn’t too uncommon. Game of Thrones ran into similar issues in the beginning during its initial run and obviously it went on to more than recuperate what it lost at the start and now those problems are just a distant memory. Unfortunately, though, it appears that the prequel will never get the chance to do that.
