David Farnor | On 19, Mar 2019

Miranda Richardson has joined the cast of the Game of Thrones prequel.

The new series, which HBO is hoping will fill the gap left behind when its fantasy epic finishes, has been in the pipeline for some time, with the cable giant ordering a pilot last year. Since then, details have begun to drip-feed online. Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series will chronicle the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know.

Jane Goldman and Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin are the creators of the series, with Goldman serving as the showrunner, presuming that it gets a full series pickup. They’ve certainly assembled one heck of a cast to help, with Naomi Watts leading the show as a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret. She’s joined by Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Denise Gough (Monday), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia films), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) and Toby Regbo (The Last Kingdom, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald).

Now, that ensemble has a little more additional star power, with Richardson cast as a series regular.
Richardson, The BAFTA and Golden Globe winner is perhaps best loved by Brits for playing Queen Elizabeth on Blackadder, and has also played Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter franchise. She will next be seen in Amazon’s Good Omens.

 

Game of Thrones prequel to start filming this summer

6th February 2019

Production on the Game of Thrones prequel will officially start this summer, HBO has confirmed.

The spin-off series was one of several potential pilots put into development by HBO, as the end of its smash hit fantasy epic loomed. With Season 8 only weeks away, the cable network is wasting no time in lining up a successor to keep fans tuned to HBO in future years, with president Casey Bloys telling EW this week that the pilot will start filming this summer.

Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series will chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know.

Naomi Watts leads the show’s cast as a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret. She’s joined by Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Denise Gough (Monday), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia films), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) and Toby Regbo (The Last Kingdom, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald).

Jane Goldman and Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin are the creators of the series, with Goldman serving as the showrunner. Jessica Jones’ SJ Clarkson, meanwhile, will direct the pilot.

What else we know about the project is limited – even the production’s location is not yet confirmed, although it’s expected to be shooting in the show’s existing base of Belfast. What we do know for sure is that this winter will be a long time coming: Bloys has also confirmed that the prequel will not air until at least a year after Game of Thrones has ended, which means a 2020 or 2021 debut is theoretically on the cards. For that to happen, though, HBO will need to give a green light to a full series. With such an impressive cast already lined up, though, it seems likely that it will.

In the meantime, Season 8 is set to premiere on Monday 15th April. Need to catch up or rewatch the series? See our guide to where you can watch Game of Thrones online.

 

Game of Thrones prequel unveils main cast and director

8th January 2018

HBO’s much anticipated Game of Thrones prequel has unveiled its main cast and director, and it’s shaping up to be a refreshingly female-led project.

The series, written by Jane Goldman, was ordered to pilot by HBO last year, set thousands of years before the events of the fantasy hit, chronicling “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour”. “Only one thing is for sure,” teases the official synopsis. “From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

Naomi Watts has previously been announced to lead the show as a “charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”, and now, we know who’ll be joining her on screen. The show’s core cast will include Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth, The Bisexual), Denise Gough (Colette), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Georgie Henley (Disney’s Narnia movies), Jamie Campbell Bower (The Twilight Saga), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties), Toby Regbo (The Last Kingdom) and Josh Whitehouse (Poldark).

“Westeros is a very different place,” George RR Martin told EW. “There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”

Behind the camera is SJ Clarkson, who most recently directed BBC and Netflix series Collateral, and has also helmed episodes of Jessica Jones, Orange Is the New Black and Dexter. Clarkson, who will also direct the next big-screen Star Trek movie, joins Goldman, who will serve as the project’s showrunner.

The prequel doesn’t have a title yet, although Martin has reportedly suggested The Long Night.

 

HBO orders pilot for Game of Thrones prequel

9th June 2018

HBO has ordered its first pilot for a Game of Thrones prequel.

Ever since Game of Thrones’ final run has been confirmed for 2019, speculation has been rife about HBO’s plans for a follow-up series. Would we have a spin-off series about the construction of The Wall? An epic exploring the origins of the Lord of Light? Dramas charting the histories of Westeros’ biggest family houses?

Five potential projects have been in the works in the last year, George RR Martin previously revealed. In a blog post last year, he ruled out a story about Robert’s Rebellion (the war fought by Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon just before Thrones’ first season). He also said that the spin-off series would not be based on the prequel novellas Tale of Dunk and Egg, nor would they feature any characters that we have previously seen.

“None of these new shows will be ‘spinning off’ from GOT in the traditional sense. We are not talking Joey or AfterMASH or even Frazier or Lou Grant, where characters from one show continue on to another,” he explained.

Ultimately, he confirmed, HBO decided to go ahead with four separate developments, to be written by Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Jane Goldman’s series is the one first out of the blocks. The still untitled series, from the Kick-Ass and The Woman in Black writer, will be set thousands of years before the events of HBO’s fantasy hit, chronicling “the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour”.

“Only one thing is for sure,” teases HBO’s official logline, which seems to hint at a story involving The Night’s King. “From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend — it’s not the story we think we know.”

Goldman will serve as showrunner on the pilot, with exec producers including Game of Thrones’ Vince Gerardis and Bloodline co-creator Daniel Zelman, alongside Goldman and Martin.

Speaking previously with THR, HBO’s Casey Bloys said that the series will not air until at least a year after Thrones’ final season. HBO also doesn’t expect many of the spin-offs to move from the script to pilot stage, with potentially only one likely to get the full green light.

The news arrives as fans eagerly await the final season of Game of Thrones, which will air in 2019 – and as all seven seasons of Thrones to date return to Sky Box Sets and NOW.

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