With fans still reeling from the controversial final season of HBO's Game of Thrones, author George R.R. Martin has thrown some potential fuel on the smoldering fire by revealing that there were once plans to end the epic in theaters, with a three-movie trilogy.
Back in 2011, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss brought the first of Martin's books to life and set the ball rolling for one of the biggest TV events of all time. As fandom continued to explode with theories about how Game of Thrones would end, Benioff and Weiss' show overtook Martin's writing. Though viewers were warned there would be some differences between the series and the books, it's safe to say there was more uproar than anyone expected when it came to the final six episodes.
Now, a Reddit post translated from a German outlet Welt explains how the plans changed over the course of the first seven seasons. The acclaimed author was asked if he'd take his world to the silver screen but admitted the movie rights currently belong to HBO. He also said, "Besides from that, we actually considered this option: David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the makers behind the TV show, wanted to finish the saga with three big movies after Season 7. Game of Thrones was supposed to end in cinema. It was seriously discussed four to five years ago.
"We produce tv shows, we are not in the cinema business," Martin continued. "And if HBO does make a movie, like the movie based on Deadwood, they only produce it to show it on tv - not on the big screen. Everything is changing at the moment. What is being shown at the cinema right now? Everything is mixing up. Nowadays we don't know where the lines between cinema, streaming services and television are."
Martin has previously said he saw Game of Thrones running for several seasons beyond its Season 8 cutoff, however, this is the first time he's revealed a big-screen outing was also an option. No one expected the negative backlash Season 8 received, leading to calls for a remake without Benioff and Weiss at the helm. That being said, HBO maintains it never considered remaking the final run of episodes.
Game of Thrones stars Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and Kit Harington.
via CinemaBlend