The world of A Song of Ice and Fire may be one step closer to coming to life in animated form. Ahead of the New Year, George R. R. Martin took to his website to reveal that multiple animated series based on his iconic fantasy novels are currently in the works at HBO, though none have yet to be greenlit. While some of the projects may never reach the light of day, he also teased that a pair of shows were about to move into the next stage of development and contribute to expanding the world of Game of Thrones on screen.
It was previously announced that three animated series were in the works, including one based in The Golden Empire of Yi Ti, but not all may be moving forward at this point. Moreover, the author teased that four ideas were being considered at one point in time, with two being shelved at this time. In his post, Martin discussed how the state of animation convinced him to start employing the medium for his own stories. Specifically, he cited this year’s animated darling Blue Eye Samurai as a major inspiration and proof that a dark and gritty series with complex characters and mature themes can not only work in animation but be improved by it. As Martin and HBO‘s projects may finally be getting into gear, it’s one of several series they’re hoping to emulate with their own work.
“As it happens, HBO and I have our own animated projects, set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire,” Martin wrote. “None of them have been greenlit yet, but I think we are getting close to taking the next step with a couple of them. When this last round of development started a few years back, we had four ideas for animated shows, with some great talents attached. Writers rooms and summits, outline and scripts followed in due course… but, alas, two of the original projects were subsequently shelved.” He reassured that shelved does not mean dead, however. Before 2023, he similarly discussed the fates of the many Game of Thrones spinoffs in various stages of development, explaining that the hope was to eventually visit all of them if everything shook out.
Where Are ‘Game of Thrones’s Other Spinoffs in Development?
Next up on the docket for HBO will be House of the Dragon Season 2 which is set to continue the tale of the Greens and the Blacks this summer. As far as new spinoffs go, however, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Hedge Knight will be the next foray into Westeros with three “small-scale” seasons following Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg. One other spinoff in the works, Nine Voyages or The Sea Snake, will be undergoing a significant overhaul, however. Martin explained that, in addition to other animated projects, the series was going to be reworked for animation as well to fit the budgetary restrictions of the story he hopes to tell:
“Work on the other two animated projects continues apace, however… and meanwhile, we have moved Nine Voyages, our series about the legendary voyages of the Sea Snake, over from live-action to animation. A move I support fully. Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live-action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to… well, on and on and on. There’s a whole world out there. And we have a lot better chance of showing it all with animation. So we now have three animated projects underway.”
Martin ended the post by reminding everyone that “Nothing is certain in Hollywood” and that each series still has a long way to go before they ever see the light of day. Stay tuned here at Collider for more as work continues on the various Game of Thrones projects. In the meantime, read our guide for everything there is to know about House of the Dragon Season 2 here.
via Collider