Cancelled GAME OF THRONES spinoff details leaked

Some details about the cancelled Game of Thrones spinoff show The Longest Night* have been revealed thanks to Redanian Intelligence (rapidly establishing itself as the new go-to place for fantasy show news and rumours) and YouTuber Lucifer Means Lightbringer, who spoke to an extra involved in the production of the pilot (although please note the latter claims have not been additionally verified).

The Longest Night was the first Game of Thrones spin-offs to be commissioned. A pilot episode, entitled Bloodmoon, was shot last summer and was presented to HBO executives in the autumn of 2019. After several weeks debating the merits of the show versus several other Game of Thrones projects they had under discussion, HBO decided not to proceed with The Longest Night and cancelled it, instead ordering directly to series a second project called House of the Dragon, which we learned this week was looking to cast key characters from the civil war known as the Dance of Dragons.

This leaves the question of what The Longest Night was going to be about still hanging. We know that it was going to be set during the Long Night, the generation-lasting period of darkness and ice during which time the White Walkers (known as the Others in the books) invaded Westeros and unleashed a period of ice and terror that was halted by the War for the Dawn, when the Last Hero defeated the White Walkers and drove them back into the North. The Wall was raised to bar their return. According to traditional history in the books, this period takes place about eight thousand years before the events of the novel series, although in interviews and in some passages in the books, George R.R. Martin has suggested this date is erroneous and the true figure is between four and five thousand years earlier.

Whilst stirring stuff, it's a bit light on the specifics, which the leaks have shed some more light on.

We already knew that Naomi Watts was playing a noble lady, but it's now been revealed that her character had a daughter, played by Amy McPherson. The Children of the Forest were also going to play a major role, with Leaf (who appeared in Game of Thrones itself) returning, this time played by Doyin Ajiboye. Leaf would have been a series regular. Two other Children would have been recurring characters: Cloud (Seyi Andes-Pelumi) and Lake (Felicia Mukasa).

Twins Leah and Mhairi Gayer would have played in-show twins Caera and Vera. Gabriella Morales was a stand-in for a princess, whilst other characters included Ianthe (Rosy McEwan), Reynard (Sean Rigby), Robben (Richard McCabe), Maiev (Dixie Egerickx), Sorcha (Georgina Campbell) and Flavia (Georgina Beedle). There was also an "enclave boy" (Zephan Hanson Amissah), "dungeon keep" (Ewan Bailey).

Other confirmed castmembers from the project included John Simm, Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackle, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Alex Sharp and Tony Regbo. S.J. Clarkson directed the pilot, which was written by Jane Goldman and co-produced by Clarkson, Goldman and George R.R. Martin, who was also a consultant. Among the crew was Alex Reynolds, a choreographer and "movement designer for the undead".

Based on the leaks, it sounds like the show would have indeed opened in the ancient Bronze Age of Westeros, when instead of seven large kingdoms there were dozens of petty-kingdoms, and would have revolved around a marriage alliance between the Starks of Winterfell and the Casterlys of Casterly Rock. A "blood moon" would have taken place - a type of eclipse - and then there would have been a meteor shower heralding the onset of the Long Night itself.

This is interesting stuff. My original thought was that the show would revisit the creation of the Night King by Leaf (as depicted in the fifth episode of Season 6) and maybe build up the Night King's character and explain who he was beforehand. However, from the sound of it the show as just going to jump straight into the Long Night kicking off. This may also have resolved a potential timeline discrepancy. Although the show confirmed (at least in the TV-only continuity) that the Children created the White Walkers as weapons to use against the invading First Men, it didn't address the fact that the original war ended peacefully with the forging of the Pact and the White Walkers didn't figure at all in that war; instead, several thousand years were to pass before the White Walkers abruptly showed up out of nowhere to initiate the Long Night. In the traditional history the Pact was signed around ten thousand years before the events of A Game of Thrones, two thousand years before the Long Night began; the "new history" hinted at in A Dance of Dragons potentially retcons these dates to six and five thousand years, with a millennium of peace falling between.

My guess has always been that the White Walkers were created as a last-ditch weapon of mass destruction during the original war when the Children's first two plans to destroy the First Men - shattering the Arm of Dorne and the Neck of Westeros - both failed. However, these displays of power did give pause to the First Men and ultimately led to the signing of the Pact. As a result, the White Walkers were not needed and were banished to the Lands of Always Winter, perhaps to be held in reserve should the First Men break the pact. It's possible that the Bloodmoon and the meteor impact are chance astronomical events which inadvertently awoke and released the White Walkers, or the Walkers were released by a vindictive Child of the Forest, or perhaps the Children felt that the First Men had broken the Pact in some unspecified manner.

It's also possible that the meteor impact may be related to the mythical destruction of the planet's second moon, which released dragons into the world. This is less likely, as reportedly the show was not going to involve dragons at all, although this of course could have been misdirection.

The idea of having the Casterlys featured is intriguing, as we know that the Casterlys were an ancient and revered house who controlled the region around Casterly Rock for centuries or millennia before they were deceived by the petty-king Lann the Clever, who tricked them into abandoning the fortress. He took it over himself, founding House Lannister. These events happened in the Age of Heroes, around the time of the Long Night, so would have been ripe to be depicted in the show. Pure speculation on my part, but John Simm plays roguish agents of chaos quite well (he played the Master in Doctor Who) and must be a leading candidate for such a role. It might be that Naomi Watts was playing the Queen Stark of the time and Amy McPherson her daughter, the princess who was to marry the "last Casterly."

A Stark-Casterly alliance at this time does feel a bit more questionable, though. It'd be the equivalent of an ancient tribe in the north of England marrying into a semi-powerful royal family halfway across Europe in some period before the rise of Rome; possible but unlikely. Still, if we assume the Starks and Casterlys were the most powerful dynasties of their regions, even if they weren't the full rulers of the North or the Westerlands yet, it may be more plausible. Having the Lannisters turn up and disinherit the Casterlys would also be a good way of establishing the traditional Lannister-Stark enmity.

We'll probably never see the Longest Night pilot episode, which is a shame. The reasons for the show being cancelled seem to be down to a combination of several factors: a lukewarm reception to both the original pilot and a re-edited version; the departure of the HBO execs who had commissioned the pilot and their replacement with newcomers who wanted to make their own decisions; and the highly negative reception to the resolution of the White Walker storyline on Game of Thrones itself. Spending four to eight seasons on a show revolving around a threat whose resolution had been clearly depicted already may have been ultimately seen as dramatically unsatisfying. House of the Dragon was regarded as a better option due to its focus on political intrigue and dragon warfare, elements that were at least more positively received on Thrones proper.

* The show was never formally called The Longest Night, but this was apparently George R.R. Martin's preferred title (he also referred to it as The Long Night, but this may have been less likely because of the GoT episode of the same name) and since it doesn't matter now, what the hell? Bloodmoon was the code-name used for the project to stop people realising it was Game of Thrones-related, but I suspect it was also the working title for the actual episode itself.

GAME OF THRONES spin-off THE LONG NIGHT cancelled at HBO

In not-entirely-unexpected news, the Game of Thrones prequel spin-off series tentatively called The Long Night has been cancelled after the pilot stage.

The show, developed under the working title Bloodmoon, was set approximately 5,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones proper and would have explored the origins of the White Walkers, the titular Long Night (the generation-lasting ice age that plunged the world into darkness and almost certainly introduced the unusually long seasons) and the distant ancestors of the great houses from the main series, including the Starks. Executive produced by Jane Goldman, the pilot assembled an impressive cast led by Naomi Watts, Miranda Richardson and John Simm.

However, the lukewarm reception to the ending of Game of Thrones and, in particular, the critical disdain shown for the conclusion of the White Walker storyline may have affected HBO's plans. In addition, part of The Long Night's appeal was its relatively low budget compared to Thrones itself; it turns out that a low-fi show set in the ancient Bronze Age of Westeros may have been a little too unspectacular given HBO's recent spending spree on expensive, premium dramas such as Watchmen (which launched last week to critical and commercial praise) and Joss Whedon's upcoming The Nevers. According to Deadline, HBO's initial reaction to the pilot was lukewarm, and not improved by a re-cut version.

Although The Long Night is dead, HBO is proceeding with more Thrones material. A second pilot has been ordered from producer Ryan Condal, this time for a show set during the Dance of Dragons, the desperate civil war within House Targaryen that saw dragons fighting dragons in the skies of Westeros some 170 years before the main series. With many more recognisable families, locations and, of course, dragons, this series would seem to stand a much better chance of getting greenlit. The pilot will be shot next year.

GAME OF THRONES prequel pilot starts shooting

The prequel spin-off to Game of Thrones has started shooting under the working title Bloodmoon. This is unlikely to be the final title, with George R.R. Martin preferring the title The Long Night (HBO appear to be less keen).

The pilot is shooting in the same Belfast Paint Hall studios that hosted Game of Thrones, with location shooting due to take place in Northern Ireland and several locations in Europe, including reportedly the Canary Islands.

Naomi Watts stars alongside actors including John Simm, Jamie Campbell Bower and Miranda Richardson. The series is set approximately 5,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones, in the Age of Heroes, and charts the collapse of a golden age society into the chaos of the Long Night, when the White Walkers and the Night King arose for the first time and the Wall was built. With the possible exception of the Night King, no Game of Thrones characters are expected to recur in the new series.

Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Kingsman) is writing and executive producing the new series, with S.J. Clarkson directing the pilot and George R.R. Martin serving as a creative consultant.

If HBO greenlight the pilot, full production of the first season is expected to start before the end of the year, for a 2020 debut.

John Simm joins GAME OF THRONES prequel series

Actor John Simm has joined the cast of the Game of Thones prequel spin-off series, tentatively titled The Long Night.

Simm is a veteran British actor with a long and impressive resume, but is probably best-known in recent years for playing the Master on Doctor Who and the lead role of Sam Tyler on time-travelling detective drama Life on Mars. His other TV credits include State of Play and The Lakes, whilst his film work includes Human Traffic and 24 Hour Party People.

Simm is one of several new actors announced for the project. Other actors announced include Marquis Rodriguez (Luke Cage, Iron Fist), Richard McCabe (Collateral, Electric Dreams), John Heffernan and Dixie Egerickx (Patrick Melrose, The Little Stranger).

The Long Night is set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, during the Age of Heroes, a bronze age civilisation that fell into ruin and despair due to the onset of the titular Long Night, a decades-long winter that plunged the world into darkness. This time marked the arising of the White Walkers, the founding of the Night's Watch, the building of the Wall and the mythic struggle known as the War for the Dawn.

HBO has so far greenlit a pilot that is expected to enter production in the next few weeks. If HBO are happy with the pilot and give a series order, the remainder of the first season would be expected to shoot later in the year for transmission in 2020.

GAME OF THRONES prequel series announces more castmembers

HBO has confirmed some additional cast and crew for the Game of Thrones prequel spin-off show that is due to start shooting imminently.

The series, provisionally entitled The Long Night, takes place thousands of years before the events of its predecessor and chronicles the descent of Westeros from the glory of the Age of Heroes into the terrors of the Long Night, when the White Walkers appeared for the first time and the Night's Watch was founded.

HBO previously confirmed that Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse would be starring in the show, whilst Jane Goldman will be working on the series as head writer and showrunner. To that they have added Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Alex Sharp and Tony Regbo.

Ackie is an up-and-coming actress who attracted attention for her role in Idris Elba's directorial debut, Yardie. She also has a role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX. Tony Regbo has been a semi-regular on The Last Kingdom, playing Æthelred, Lord of Mercia in Seasons 2 and 3.

Jame Campbell Bower is an interesting addition. He played the role of Ser Waymar Royce in the original 2009 pilot for Game of Thrones, but was unable to reprise the role for the series proper, as he had been cast as King Arthur in Starz's short-lived Camelot series. The role was recast with Rob Ostlere playing the (short-lived, as he dies before the title credits begin) role.

HBO have also confirmed that British director S.J. Clarkson will be directing the pilot. She has shot episodes of series including The Defenders, Jessica Jones, Orange is the New Black, Banshee, Dexter, Heroes and Life on Mars. She is also provisionally booked to shoot the fourth Star Trek movie to be produced by J.J. Abams, although the fate of that film remains unclear due to an ongoing cast payment dispute.

The pilot episode for the new series will shoot shortly, with HBO due to make a decision on the project in the summer or winter. If greenlit, production would resume with an air to the show launching in mid or late 2020.

Game of Thrones' eighth and final season will air in April 2019, consisting of six episodes, although each episode is expected to be significantly longer than normal.

GAME OF THRONES spin-off casts another lead

Following yesterday's news that Naomi Watts would be starring in the Game of Thrones prequel spin-off show (provisionally entitled The Long Night), it's now been confirmed that the show has found another leading actor.

Josh Whitehouse (Poldark, The Happy Worker, Valley Girl) has been cast in a key leading role, although, oddly, HBO have not provided any kind of character description. Whitehouse has been seen as a strong up-and-comer, reminiscent of the profile Richard Madden had when he was cast as Robb Stark for the pilot of Game of Thrones itself, nine years ago.

The Long Night will shoot its pilot episode just after Christmas. If it impresses HBO, production of Season 1 proper will take place later in the year for the show to debut on HBO in 2020.

GAME OF THRONES prequel pilot casts Naomi Watts to star

Actress Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, King Kong, The Ring) has been cast as the lead in the pilot to the Game of Thrones prequel series, provisionally entitled The Long Night.

Watts will be playing "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret". The Long Night takes place approximately 8,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones itself and charts the collapse of the Age of Heroes, a golden age of human kingdoms living in alliance with the Children of the Forest. A terrible winter descends upon the world, bringing with it the first threat of the mysterious White Walkers.

No Game of Thrones characters - apart potentially from the Night King - will appear in the new series, but the ancestors of families such as the Starks are expected to be major characters. In the books the Long Night takes place during the Bronze Age of Westeros, with far more primitive weapons, castles, armour and cities appearing. The "socialite" tag sounds a bit odd in this context, but may be referring to Watts' character playing a noblewoman who becomes aware of the growing threat in some manner.

Watts' casting is high-profile, although that doesn't mean much for the longevity of her character as Sean Bean fans can attest. Watts will probably be hoping this show goes better than her last one, Netflix's Gypsy, which attracted poor ratings and reviews and was cancelled after one season. She also recently appeared in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return.

The pilot to The Long Night - if that is its final title - will start shooting in the New Year. If HBO decide to proceed to series, it will air in early 2020.

GAME OF THRONES: THE LONG NIGHT pilot moving forwards, all other spin-off series on hold

HBO has confirmed it is moving forwards with the Game of Thrones spin-off pilot they've ordered from writer-producer Jane Goldman. With the rough working title The Long Night, the news series will be many thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones and will depict the events that led to the founding of House Stark, the Night's Watch and the Wall, including the original rise and invasion of the White Walkers.

The spin-off pilot was expected to shoot in November so HBO execs could assess it in the spring and decide to move forwards; if they do, the first season would shoot later in the year for a spring 2020 debut. However, it now sounds like the pilot might shoot in the spring instead, which could change that timetable significantly.

All of the other spin-off series are currently and officially on hold. A fortnight ago rumours broke that HBO were also considering a second spin-off show, set in the old Valyrian Freehold about a century before the Doom, although HBO have not officially confirmed or denied such a project is in development. If it is, it sounds like HBO have put it on the backburner for now.

HBO also confirmed in the same announcement that Game of Thrones itself will return for its final season in the first half of 2019.

HBO orders GAME OF THRONES prequel pilot from Jane Goldman

HBO has pulled the trigger on their plans for a Game of Thrones spin-off series, ordering a pilot from writer/producer/showrunner Jane Goldman.

The First Men and the Children of the Forest forge the Pact on the Isle of Faces, thus beginning the Age of Heroes, four thousand years of peace that would end in the chaos and horror of the Long Night. Artwork by Magali Villeneuve for The World of Ice and Fire.

The spin-off series will be set in the Age of Heroes, the time period that began with the Pact - a peace treaty - being signed between the Children of the Forest (the original inhabitants of the continent of Westeros) and the invading First Men, and ended thousands of years later in the Long Night and the first war against the White Walkers. This is an intriguing time period, many thousands of years before the events of the series, with very little "canonical" information to go on. This will allow Goldman and her team of writers to create all-new stories in a much more primitive setting.

George R.R. Martin helped brainstorm ideas for the series as part of his longterm development contract with HBO, will be credited as a producer and will get a "story by" credit on the pilot, but will not take an active role in the series as he is focusing on completing the long-gestating sixth and (apparently) penultimate novel in the book series, The Winds of Winter.

Jane Goldman's involvement is particularly interesting. An experienced writer and producer, she wrote or co-wrote the scripts for Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Woman in Black, Kingsman and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis will also work on the show as a producer, and Daniel Zelman (Damages, Bloodline) will also be working as a producer on the project. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are likely to get an executive producer credit, but will have no day-to-day involvement as they will be moving from Game of Thrones' final season to developing a new Star Wars movie series for Lucasfilm next year.

The series doesn't have a title yet (although Game of Thrones: Age of Heroes sounds like it could work, in a sort of Masters of the Universe way...actually, they should think of something better) but it does have a logline:

"Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. Only one thing is for sure: 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."

Game of Thrones: The First Spin-Off will likely shoot its pilot next year and, if it gets a series order, will likely air in 2020 or 2021.

HBO are continuing to evaluate no less than four other pilot pitches for series set in the same world. Previously HBO have said they are likely to only order one to pilot, but this depends on the quality of the scripts they receive.

HBO developing four separate GAME OF THRONES spin-off projects

It's been known for a while that HBO have been developing ideas for a Game of Thrones spin-off series so they can continue to make substantial amounts of money explore the rich and diverse world created by George R.R. Martin. In a bizarre twist, they have confirmed that they are developing no less than four potential spin-off projects, each from a different writer, so they can pick the one (or two) they like best, like a slightly odd reality show.

The four writers (and presumably potential showrunners) are Max Borenstein, Brian Helgeland, Jane Goldman and Carly Wray.

Borenstein is heavily involved in Legendary's new "Monsterverse", writing the scripts for Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island. He is feted in Hollywood writing circles for Jimi, an unproduced biopic about Jimi Hendrix. He is currently working on the Godzilla sequel, King of the Monsters.

Helgeland is an Academy Award-winner, noted for his work on L.A. Confidential and Mystic River. Intriguingly, his scripts include the Heath Ledger 2001 medieval musical A Knight's Tale, which bears uncanny similarities with George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire prequel The Hedge Knight (1998).

Jane Goldman is an experienced SFF screen writer, having written the scripts for Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, The Woman in Black, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and both Kingsman movies. Goldman has a high hit rate and is the only one of the four writers to be based in the UK, presumably where the spin-offs will continue to be filmed (if they require the same scenery).

Carly Wray has worked as a writer and producer on Mad Men, Constantine, The Bastard Executioner, The Leftovers, Mindhunter and Westworld. Her work on The Leftovers and Westworld gives her the most experience of having previously worked with HBO.

Borenstein and Helgeland are developing ideas independently, whilst Goldman and Wray are developing their scripts with input from George R.R. Martin. Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be attached as producers and advisors, but will not be directly involved since they are starting work on the eighth and final season of Thrones for next year and will then be developing a feature film adaptation of the novel Dirty White Boys for Fox.

HBO are apparently not set in any final decisions about the spin-off project: they may like all four ideas and commission all of them, or dislike all of them and go back to the drawing board. It's worth noting at this point that George R.R. Martin retains the rights to any other material set in Westeros, so the writers will have to also win his approval as well as HBO's to move forwards.

The most likely spin-off project is either a continuing series or series of films based on Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas (starting with The Hedge Knight). There is already material available to be adapted and the stories have a (somewhat) lighter, more self-contained narrative that will make them, in theory, easier to sell to audiences. However, only three of a potential twelve stories in the series have been written. It could be, with the main series occupying his time for the next few years (at least), Martin has found the TV option as an alternate way of getting these stories out through other writers.

HBO would likely be most interested in a prequel series based on Robert's Rebellion, featuring younger actors playing key Game of Thrones roles. Indeed, they already have Robert Aramayo and Aisling Franciosi cast as Eddard and Lyanna Stark from the main series (although a big-budget, ongoing series may feature some recasting). However, Martin has always been somewhat opposed to telling this story in detail, believing it would only be "filling in the blanks" as the key parts of the story have already been revealed in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones themselves. HBO may attempt to persuade Martin of the merits of the project by burying his entire house and indeed city in dump trucks of money citing its artistic and thematic potential.

More daunting is the idea of doing a story based on the Dance of Dragons, using Martin's short stories The Rogue Prince and The Princess and the Queen, as well as the history outlined in The World of Ice and Fire (not to mention a much more detailed account of the conflict, which Martin has written for a future spin-off project called Fire and Blood). This would probably need to be a feature film or a trilogy, and with its focus on massive dragons and aerial combat, might be a good fit for Borenstein (whose upcoming workload is also quite full, making it less likely he would commit to a TV show for several years but could work on a movie project).

It's very early in the process, but it's quite likely that HBO would like something ready to air in late 2019 or early 2020, after Game of Thrones' final episode airs somewhere in the late summer of 2018.