Game of Thrones Spinoff 10,000 Ships Creator Offers New Details on Cancelled Prequel

Writer Brian Helgeland opens up about the planned prequel series.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

At one point in time, the Game of Thrones franchise was one of the hottest pop-culture properties on the planet, which resulted in the development of various spinoffs of the core HBO series, though one project that never gestated significantly was the prequel series 10,000 Ships. Writer Brian Helgeland was attached to develop the project, with the filmmaker recently opening up about the experience, which included detailing the overall tone of the story and how, with it being set 1,000 years before the events of the original series, he thinks it was too detached from the franchise for HBO to move forward with it. The project isn't, however, entirely dead, according to Helgeland.

"It came out great, but I think they felt the period of my show was too far removed from the pillars of the original," Helgeland detailed to Inverse. "That's why it hasn't been picked up yet, but nothing is ever dead. My script was based on Queen Nymeria and this little blurb about her that was in a Westeros encyclopedia."

The series had previously been described as following the journey of Princess Nymeria, who traveled from Essos to Dorne following their defeat by the Valyrian Freehold in the Second Spice War. In 2021, writer Amanda Segel was hired to script the series.

"Essentially, it was the story of Moses but swapping him out for Nymeria," Helgeland continued. "Her country gets ruined and her people are forced to live on the water, which is why the show was called 10,000 Ships. They end up having to leave and find a new home like the Israelites leaving Egypt. She's leading all these people, trying to hold everyone together but things are always in danger of falling apart as they travel around a fictionalized version of the Mediterranean, looking for a new home to settle in."

He continued, "Their life was nomadic. Living in a raft city that was bound together, this big floating city ... Sometimes, the characters would come ashore, but they ultimately get driven off the land as they search for a home, their version of the promised land."

10,000 Ships isn't the only spinoff to suffer setbacks, as one project even filmed a pilot that HBO failed to order to series. The critical and audience success of House of the Dragon, though, likely means HBO is still interested in expanding the franchise in the future.

"I met with George R.R. Martin to pitch him the idea, which he signed off on. Sadly, I didn't work with him closer, but I would have done if the show was picked up," Helgeland confessed. "It was kind of like Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films mixed with The Odyssey. In a way, Nymeria is Odysseus, but instead of a 12-person crew, she's responsible for every citizen in this floating city-state. My work is still there if HBO wants to pick it up. I enjoyed my time developing it, and you just never know."

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Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Game of Thrones franchise.

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