HBO Exec Addresses Status of Game of Thrones Creators’ Controversial Confederate Series

With Game of Thrones in the rearview, series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are looking towards the future. The creative team have been shopping a global overall deal with other big media companies, but wherever they ultimately land, it likely means the end of projects they’ve had in the works with HBO — specifically the controversial Confederate.

HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys told Deadline that wherever Benioff and Weiss make their deal will be lucky to have them, but projects they have with HBO are unlikely to proceed at that point.

“Any place that they end up at would be lucky to have them,” Bloys said. “I want talent to make as much money as they can.”

But when it comes to Confederate going forward after such a deal, Bloys doesn’t see it happening.

“I think anything they have with us would likely not go forward,” Bloys said.

HBO announced Confederate back in July 2017. The series, which was set to take place in an alternate version of the United States after the Confederacy successfully seceded after the Civil War complete with slavery remaining legal, was immediately met with criticism over the concept. Despite being greenlighted, the series was kept on the back burner, largely while the pair finished Game of Thrones. At the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January 2018, Bloys offered an update on Confederate that largely consisted of no update — Confederate had no timetable because ending Game of Thrones was the priority.

Game of Thrones, however, didn’t exactly go quite the way perhaps Benioff and Weiss would have liked it to have. Overall, fans weren’t exactly thrilled with much of the wildly popular series’ final season, but they were particularly angry about the actual ending. The backlash toward the entire final season was so strong that fans even went so far as to petition HBO to “remake” those final episodes — a petition that Bloys appreciated for the fan enthusiasm, but generally dismissed.

“There are very few downsides to having a hugely popular show,” Bloys said. “One I can think of, when you try to end it, many people have opinions on how to end it. I think that comes with the territory. The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn’t something we seriously considered. I can’t imagine another network would.”

What do you think about this latest status update on Confederate? Let us know in the comments below.