‘Game of Thrones’: HBO Won’t Pick Up Another Spinoff Until Prequel Gets off the Ground

Game of Thrones is eager to get more Game of Thrones content on the air after the series wraps this summer, but don’t expect it to go overboard with the franchise.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO programming president Casey Bloys says they won’t be picking up any more of the several Game of Thrones spinoffs being developed until the already greenlit prequel gets off the ground.

“We’re looking at an early summer shoot date for the pilot and we’re excited,” Bloys says. “SJ Clarkson is directing. Everything is moving ahead. We’re excited. No other plans to pick up anything else until we get that one going and then we’ll think about if there’s any other one that we want to make. We really just want to get this one going, get it off to pilot and then we’ll think about other options.”

When asked if HBO would pursue with Game of Thrones something similar AMC’s plans to have something from The Walking Dead on in every quarter, Bloys said he doesn’t want to do anything that would dilute either the HBO and Game of Thrones brands.

“It’s a great world and great IP,” Bloys says. “We’re going to do the pilot, see how it goes. Is it possible we do another one? Maybe. But I don’t want HBO to become a network that airs just Game of Thrones or Game of Thrones prequels. It should be said that Game of Thrones has been an incredible show for us but what we’re doing is a much more diversified slate so that we’re not in a position that we have to get the Game of Thrones franchise up and running or the lights are going out at HBO. That is not the situation and it never has been.

“We’re not going all-in Game of Thrones all the time. I do think it would be crazy not to try the prequel and to see what else is out there because George R.R. Martin has created this incredible universe and there’s a lot of different places you can go. But we want to be careful not to overdo it. One of the things that Richard and I have been doing for the past three years is diversifying the slate so that we’re not in a position where it’s just one show defining the network. When people ask the question: ‘What are you going to do after Game of Thrones,’ I think, look, when Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, it is a wildly different media landscape. What you’re going to see is Game of Thrones will be replaced by a more varied slate of programming. It’s not going to be one show. I don’t know that it’s possible to launch a gigantic like this again in this media environment. Who knows! But for us, what makes sense is making sure that we have a lot of shows that hit a lot of our subscribers. If you look, over this past year, we’ve had Westworld, Succession, Sharp Objects, True Detective, My Brilliant Friend…We’ve got Watchmen, Euphoria, Big Little Lies season two … we’re trying to keep the slate full and varied. Honestly, that is the future as opposed to one show defining the brand. We have a new show from Danny McBride, we have Succession season two, His Dark Materials with the BBC, Chernobyl — which is excellent.”

Are you excited for the Game of Thrones prequel? Let us know in the comments!

Game of Thrones returns to HBO for its final season on April 14th.