A Game of Thrones spin off could be the next big thing, and George R. R. Martin says he’s open to the idea.
Considering the series’ showrunners, D.D. Weiss and David Benioff, are thinking about wrapping things up within the next few seasons, a spin off could be great news for fans.
It’s pretty impossible to imagine the idea won’t ever gain some serious consideration given the show’s popularity and enormous fan base, and when the time comes to stop filming GoT, Martin says he believes there will be many other opportunities for another show.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Martin said ‘there is certainly no lack of material,’ and the ‘most natural follow-up’ for the acclaimed author would be ‘an adaptation of [his] Dunk & Egg stories.’
Dunk & Eggs, for those who haven’t read them, is a series of short novels (novellas) taking place 90 years before ‘the time of characters like Tyrion, Daenerys, and Arya.’ There are three stories as of right now, but Martin says he has many more planned.
He said:
Each of the novellas could easily be done as a two-hour stand-alone movie for television; that would probably be the ideal way to do them, rather than as an ongoing weekly series.
The Hedge Knight and its sequels are lighter than A Song of Ice and Fire, more in the realm of action/adventure.
The stories, though most definitely engaging enough for fans of Martin’s original books, are unfortunately a little low on the characteristics that make Game of Thrones such a hit – basically, there’s no nudity or dragons.
To get closer in tone to GoT, Martin says the story line would need to go back further in Westoros history, like to the Targaryen civil war (The Dance of the Dragons), or to other events in Martin’s ‘history’ collection in A World of Ice and Fire.
At this moment in time though, this is all only a thought. There are no concrete plans to make a spin off – but wouldn’t it be great?
Even the fact that George R. R. Martin is considering the idea of extending the world of Westoros and beyond is exciting. Let’s hope that – when the unfortunate time comes to stop filming Game of Thrones – this spin off takes its place.
