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A Game of Thrones film is set for the big screen, with Warner Bros officially developing a prequel set in the world of Westeros.
House of Cards showrunner and Andor writer Beau Willimon has been recruited to write the script based on George RR Martin’s fantasy series.
According to a recent Hollywood Reporter cover story on Martin, it seems that the movie will be a “Dune-sized feature film” based on King Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros, which united six of the seven kingdoms about 300 years before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones pilot. HBO is simultaneously developing a rival TV series inspired by the same story.
While Martin works on finishing The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, there has been a post-Thrones gold rush to bring his world to the screen. The recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was critically acclaimed, with the Guardian’s Stuart Heritage praising the spinoff as “saving the Game of Thrones universe”. Meanwhile, season three of House of the Dragon will premiere in June.
The news of Warner Bros’ prequel comes at an uncertain time for the studio in light of its recent $110bn acquisition deal by Paramount Skydance. Paramount’s CEO and longtime Trump associate, David Ellison, promised the deal would “honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company”.
The deal has been criticised by figures on the left, including US senator Elizabeth Warren, who called it “an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families”.
Back in 2022, it was reported that HBO and actor Kit Harington were developing a Jon Snow spinoff series. In 2024, Harington said that the project was “firmly off the shelf”, adding: “We all couldn’t find the right story to tell.” The same year, Martin wrote on his blog that an animated spinoff titled Nine Voyages was also in the works at HBO, but further details have not emerged.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been a record-breaking hit, with 9.5 million viewers tuning in for its finale last month. The show has been renewed for a second season, with filming under way in Belfast and Spain.
Last month also saw the news that a long-awaited Game of Thrones stage show will also be coming this summer by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
