HBO recently announced a pilot order for a Game of Thrones prequel, and while most everyone was delighted by that news, some fans of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series must've let out a sigh of frustration. Another new project for the franchise is exciting, but in some of their eyes, it's just another distraction keeping George R.R. Martin from finishing his saga-turned-hit series. Martin set the record straight with those fans in a recent blog post, and clarified exactly how this prequel pilot order will affect his progress on Winds of Winter:
And yes, before you ask, work on Winds of Winter continues, and remains my top priority. It is ridiculous to think otherwise. If I wasn't busy with Winds, don't you think I'd be scripting one or more of these pilots myself? It's not as if I've never written for TV...
George R.R. Martin's statement is a reference to the fact that the Game of Thrones prequel approved by HBO was not actually written by him, but by notable screenwriter Jane Goldman. As for Martin, he's been staying out of writing any of HBO's prequels in development, and stated he's been on board more or less as a consultant to answer questions from the actual screenwriters developing these pilots. Martin continued in his blog by stating the reason for his lack of involvement is because he's hard at work with Winds of Winter, which will put any suspicions that he's stopped working on it to focus on television to bed.
Of course, that pledge doesn't necessarily mean Winds of Winter will arrive any sooner. George R.R. Martin's ability to drag out writing a novel is nothing short of legendary. The best Game of Thrones fans can do is take the author at his word that he is pounding away at the keyboard, and continuing his slow march towards ending his ongoing book series. In the meantime, at least they can take solace in the fact he is delivering consistent updates on the franchise, and the status of those other pilots that were being developed alongside the one that got a pilot order:
As for the other successor shows... if you have been following along, you know that we started with four, and eventually went to five. One of those has been shelved, I am given to understand, and of course Jane's pilot is now moving to film. But that does not mean the others are dead. Three more Game of Thrones prequels, set in different periods and featuring different characters and storylines, remain in active development. Everything I am told indicates that we could film at least one more pilot, and maybe more than one, in the years to come. We do have an entire world and tens of thousands of years of history to play with, after all. But this is television, so nothing is certain.
Overall, that's not bad news, and he wouldn't be George R.R. Martin if he didn't tag that dark reminder that nothing is ever certain in life. Game of Thrones fans will just have to stay with CinemaBlend for updates regarding the potential prequel series and be ready for the final season of GoT scheduled to air sometime in 2019. For a look at programming to check out in the meantime, head on over to our summer premiere guide.
