Reports Circulate About A ‘Game Of Thrones’ Movie — Is There Any Truth To Them?

Fans of George R.R. Martin are getting excited at talk of Game of Thrones going to the big screen after the series concludes. However, so far, these reports are currently unsubstantiated, although this is not the first time talk of a Game of Thrones movie has seen the light of day.

According to the Daily Star Sunday, novelist George R.R. Martin recently admitted there were plans to make a movie version of Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin is a prolific author who has several massive tomes under his belt in the form of the Song of Fire and Ice book series that HBO’s Game of Thrones is based on. In fact, as the Daily Star pointed out, the book series spans over 8,000 years of history in the mythical region of Westeros, so, potentially, there is plenty of source material if HBO wanted to branch out with a Game of Thrones movie.

Apparently, George R.R. Martin spilled the beans on the Game of Thrones movie at the HBO Emmys after party last week. Why it has taken more than a week to become a news story though, is anyone’s guess. The following is the quote the Daily Star allegedly issued from George R.R. Martin:

“There will be a movie but I will not be involved. I have too much to do. That is something HBO and the DB [Weiss] and David are dealing with. I have two more books to finish and I still have so much to do. The pressure is on. I am such a slow writer and the fans get upset that I don’t write faster.”

As well as the potential for a Game of Thrones movie, the Daily Star revealed that an undisclosed “production insider” elaborated on the Game of Thrones movie venture by offering the fact the movie would possibly be a prequel.

“They are looking at dipping back in time during certain periods of the series, which could be examined as a one off plot. That means that some of the big characters who fans have seen die on screen could be resurrected.”

Along with the potential news of a Game of Thrones movie, the Daily Star reported that the current TV series on HBO will not run to ten seasons as previously stated in Entertainment Weekly back in March of this year. Although, during that interview, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, did say that if Game of Thrones came to its natural conclusion after seven seasons like they had previously anticipated, that is where they would end it. HBO had optioned the cast for another two years, putting the pressure on to add extra seasons to the show. However, just because HBO had optioned the cast doesn’t actually mean the show will run longer. As HBO programming president Michael Lombardo pointed out at the time, HBO would like Game of Thrones to go beyond seven seasons, but they also trust that the showrunners know exactly what they are doing when they say seven seasons is enough.

Interestingly enough, during that same interview, while Lombardo did want to extend the life of the Game of Thrones series, he didn’t want to see the series end with a movie, something George R.R. Martin has been eager to see happen.

“When you start a series with our subscribers, the promise is that for your HBO fee that we’re going to take you to the end of this. I feel that on some level [a movie would be] changing the rules: Now you have to pay $16 to see how your show ends.”

However, while they don’t like the idea of ending the series with a movie, including a prequel as a movie is a whole different ball game. And, according to Entertainment Weekly, George R.R. Martin does have a development deal with HBO, so it is possible he could employ that avenue to get the movie out that he has been eager to see as the conclusion to the TV series.

According to The Independent, HBO have gone on the record to say they “aren’t able to comment on this at this time” in relation to a potential Game of Thrones movie.

So, for now, fans need to calm down and wait for news on a Game of Thrones movie to come from a reliable source such as HBO themselves. Currently, only smaller and offshore news outlets are reporting this story as fact.

Game of Thrones returns to HBO in 2016.

What do you think, could there be a Game of Thrones movie being developed by HBO? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

[Image credits: HBO / Getty Images / Alberto E. Rodriguez]