With the final season of ratings behemoth ‘Game of Thrones’ airing now, HBO is keen to keep viewers tuning in to the exploits of the citizens of Westeros. The network has had a few prequel spinoffs in the planning stages, but one of those is officially not happening. Longtime ‘GoT’ scribe Bryan Cogman has announced that the prequel he was working on has not been picked up and that he is done with the franchise.
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In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cogman revealed:
“I’m definitely leaving. I was developing one of the successor shows with George. George has worked with a bunch of the writers, including Jane [Goldman], whose show is being done [as a pilot]. My prequel show is not happening and will not happen. HBO decided to go a different way. I’m working with Amazon now and helping them out with their shows. So, it is a goodbye. I am done with Westeros. It’s wonderfully bittersweet. I’ll certainly miss it, but I’m excited to go out on my own and try to be in the captain’s chair of my own projects, armed with everything I’ve learned. I’ve learned more than I could possibly imagine from eight seasons of this thing.”
Cogman’s last produced script was the second episode of the current eighth season, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” As he described the experience, “It was a goodbye and a love letter to these characters and to this cast.”
As Cogman indicated, another prequel from Jane Goldman with input from George R.R. Martin is moving forward, at least to the pilot stage.
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HBO is being extra guarded with this season of ‘GoT’, and won’t even reveal the names of the episodes until the day they air. However, Cogman did offer a little tease regarding the next episode:
“Without getting into spoilers, this is the dread coming to your door. The White Walkers and the Night King are the end personified. Whatever that means to you? That’s what you’re going to see next week.”
Among the many episodes of ‘GoT’ that Cogman penned are Season 3’s “Kissed by Fire“, Season 4’s “The Laws of Gods and Men”, and Season 6’s “Blood of my Blood.”
Cogman has signed an exclusive development deal with Amazon. With more and more streaming services coming down the pike, the current rulers– Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu– are looking to solidify their domination with buzzy “must-watch” shows, so hiring and locking down one of the creators of the buzziest show currently on TV is a smart move.
Hopefully, Cogman will reveal more about his upcoming projects soon.
