Game of Thrones author says there are now five new shows in development

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Earlier this month all the fans, geeks and students of GAME OF THRONES and the world of Westeros cheered (or jeered) at the news that four new spinoff shows were in development at HBO. That’s a lot of nudity, violence and waiting for dragons and zombies on the horizon, but the creator of the famed book series, George R.R. Martin, revealed that four is no longer the number they’re aiming for. Four is for babies.

In a blog post from the author he spoke about working very closely with the writers of all four of the shows – Max Bornstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray – each of whom will take on one spinoff. However, he said that by the end of the day, that number had gone from four shows to a solid five.

"We had four scripts in development when I arrived in LA last week, but by the time I left we had five. We have added a fifth writer to the original four. No, I will not reveal the name here. HBO announced the names of the first four, and will no doubt announce the fifth as well, once his deal has closed. He's a really terrific addition, however, a great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda, I don't know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does."

Way to find another way to leave us in suspense, Martin.

As for the shows themselves, Martin went on to say that the word “spinoff” is probably inaccurate. Instead, he prefers terms like “secondary universe”, a phrase coined by J.R.R. Tolkien. The shows will focus on numerous different stories throughout “thousands of years of recorded history” in the world of Westeros and, in the end, they will be more like prequel than sequels, he says:

None of these new shows will be 'spinning off' from GOT in the traditional sense. We are not talking JOEY or AFTER MASH or even FRAZIER or LOU GRANT where characters from one show continue on to another. So all of you who were hoping for the further adventures of Hot Pie are doomed to disappointment. Every one of the concepts under discussion is a prequel, rather than a sequel. Some may not even be set on Westeros. Rather than 'spinoff' or 'prequel,' however, I prefer the term 'successor show.' That's what I've been calling them.

The thought of Martin and the teams behind the shows looking beyond doing more than doing more Lannister and Targaryen stuff sounds refreshing, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of five new shows. That’s five more shows to binge watch, five more sets of characters to worry about seeing decapitated or mutilated, and five more kinds of long walks in gardens. That’s so much fantasy drama/action I wonder if anyone is going to even care. But then I see any GOT cosplayer walking around and think they might as well pump it up to six.

GAME OF THRONES seaosn seven arrives July 16 with Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and more.