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Game of Thrones prequel canceled: Long Night not coming to HBO

Game of Thrones prequel canceled
The Night King from the White Walkers on Game of Thrones. Pic credit: HBO

HBO has canceled the Game of Thrones prequel set in the Age of Heroes and focusing on the Long Night.

Showrunner Jane Goldman helmed the Game of Thrones prequel and shot a pilot episode earlier this year. HBO watched it and contemplated an entire season, but they have now passed.

Game of Thrones prequel canceled by HBO

This was the Game of Thrones prequel starring Naomi Watts and Deadline reports that Goldman sent e-mails to the cast and crew to tell them that the project is now dead.

Deadline reports that the pilot was re-edited because it was not received well at HBO and there were strong concerns about shooting in Northern Ireland.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the Game of Thrones prequel would take place during Westeros’ Age of Heroes on the precipice of the Long Night war with the white walkers.

It was also a big deal because it had a female showrunner in Goldman, female director in S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones), and several female leads, including Watts and Denise Gough.

The show would also remain separate from the immensely popular Game of Thrones series, as there would be no dragons and the House Targaryen had not risen yet. The Starks and Lannisters would likely still be included, though.

The future of Game of Thrones on HBO

The good news for Game of Thrones fans is that there were five different prequels HBO put into development at one point.

One of these included a Game of Thrones prequel set around the Targaryen civil war that George R.R. Martin described in A World of Ice and Fire and in Fire and Blood.

While Goldman’s script was one that HBO initially was excited about making, the pilot doomed it. Now, one wonders which of the other scripts that HBO will look to move on to next.

Entertainment Weekly previously hinted that it would be the one about the Targaryen civil war — the Dance of the Dragons.

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