George R.R. Martin won't write House of the Dragon scripts until Winds of Winter is done
George R.R. Martin took to his blog to react to the massive Game of Thrones news this week where one prequel in development was canceled by HBO while another prequel concept was given a full-series order — House of the Dragon, based on Martin’s history of House Targaryen in Westeros (here’s everything we know about the new show).
Martin wrote he was “saddened to hear” the first show, from writer Jane Goldman, was not going to series. “Jane Goldman is a terrific screenwriter, and I enjoyed brainstorming with her. I do not know why HBO decided not to go to series on this one, but I do not think it had to do with House of the Dragon. This was never an either/or situation. If television has room enough for multiple CSI and Chicago shows… well, Westeros and Essos are a lot bigger, with thousands of years of history and enough tales and legends and characters for a dozen shows. Heartbreaking as it is to work for years on a pilot, to pour your blood and sweat and tears into it, and have it come to nought, it’s not at all uncommon. I’ve been there myself, more than once. I know Jane and her team are feeling the disappointment just now, and they have all my sympathy… with my thanks for all their hard work, and my good wishes for whatever they do next.”
But Martin spent most of his focus on the good news.
Martin reveals that House of the Dragon was the first concept he pitched to HBO as a successor show to GoT, and suggests to prepare for the show you not only read his book Fire & Blood but also the anthologies he wrote with Gardner Dozois, Dangerous Women and Rogues.
He praised the addition of director Miguel Sapochnik to the House of the Dragon team as director and co-showrunner (“one of the hottest directors in television today”) and the pilot script by co-showrunner Ryan Condal. (“He’s a terrific writer… and a fan of my books since well before we met. He tells me that he discovered the series just after A Storm of Swords was published, and ‘I’ve loved the books for 19 years.'”)
The author says the show might revisit countries used for shooting Game of Thrones — Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Croatia, Morocco, Malta, and Spain.
Martin also expects to be involved in the new series, which is written by Condal along with a team of writers (yet to be hired), but stresses: “I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds of Winter” — the author’s long-awaited sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire Saga.
House of the Dragon has no premiere date, but a 2021 debut seems likely assuming the writing, casting and production go smoothly.
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