At the beginning of the month, fans of Game of Thrones went crazy when HBO announced that the network was looking at four potential spinoffs of the show. But now, according to Deadline, all of the spinoffs that are being developed will be prequels of the show and George R.R. Martin said there’s five shows that are in development, one more than was originally reported.
Martin himself confirmed the news on Live Journal Sunday night, writing “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.”
If there’s one thing that Martin doesn’t like about the five potential off-shoots of the original Game of Thrones, it’s the term spinoff. Instead, Martin wants to call them “secondary universes” that go beyond Westeros.
He also said that it’s unlikely that all five of the shows that are currently in development will make it to air and that he’s been involved in the planning of the five shows for months now. He also confirmed that all five of the shows currently in development would be prequels to Game of Thrones.
Martin also confirmed that one of the prequels won’t be about Dunk and Egg, also known as Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, King Aegon V Targaryen of Westeros.
As Game of Thrones starts to draw to a close with the premiere of the seventh season on July 16, it’s always possible that more details surrounding the upcoming prequels of the show will be announced to keep fans on their toes.