Did winter just get extended? HBO president Casey Bloys told the Wrap on Monday, November 14, that the network is in talks to launch a prequel series to its Emmy-winning hit Game of Thrones, which has only two seasons remaining before it signs off for good. (Thrones‘ season 7, which consists of seven episodes, premieres in summer 2017.)
“We’ve talked very, very kind of high-level, like, ‘Oh, that would be interesting. A prequel would be interesting. Are there areas that make more sense?'” Bloys said. “But we haven’t — no one has put pen to paper yet. It’s still pretty early on.”
“But it’s such a great world, and it’s such a great property, we’d be crazy not to at least explore the idea of some sort of prequel or whatever you want to call it,” he continued. “So we are thinking about it, talking about it, but nothing really of note to report just yet.”
The exec revealed that the network has yet to pinpoint an exact point of time to focus on from the vast Westeros history for the follow-up to Thrones, which is based on George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Bloys also didn’t name any characters who might appear in the project, which would mark HBO’s first-ever prequel or spinoff series to stem from one of its scripted shows.
“I would say it’s still kind of preliminary ongoing talks,” Bloys demurred. “There are areas we are exploring, but I wouldn’t point to any one and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.'”
As for how many episodes will comprise Thrones’ eighth and final season, Bloys said, “I’ll take as much as we can get.”
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Game of Thrones season 7 premieres on HBO in summer 2017.