‘Game Of Thrones’: HBO CEO Is ‘Excited’ About Prequels, Calls Early Scripts An ‘Embarrassment Of Riches’

Cheer up, Game of Thrones fans!

Your favorite show may be ending after next season, and you may be stuck enduring another long hiatus, but the good news is that the Game of Thrones sequels HBO is developing are looking good. Very, very good.

Entertainment Weekly reported that HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler addressed the sequels during an appearance at Mipcom, an entertainment trade show that takes place in Cannes. There are currently five different spinoffs being developed by five groups of writers. And while none of them is guaranteed to make it to production, Plepler said three scripts have been delivered so far, and he’s been deeply impressed with what he’s read.

“It’s a fantastic group of writers and talent, most of whom have lived inside the Thrones eco-system so are very, very familiar with its intricacies,” Plepler said. “I think we will find with this embarrassment of [writing] riches an exciting property for us to move forward with.”

He went on to say that HBO is reviewing the five potential sequels and that he’s read a couple of the early series bibles and he’s “excited about what I’ve seen.”

Game of Thrones author and co-executive producer George R.R. Martin is only connected to three of the five prequels, and only one of the showrunners in the running–Bryan Cogman–has written for the show in the past. Meanwhile, GoT showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have chosen not to be involved in any of the prequels, wanting to concentrate fully on the show’s eighth and final season.

Besides Bryan Cogman, who has written GoT episodes like “Kissed by Fire” and “The Laws of Gods and Men,” there are other impressive writers working on the prequels. They include Max Borenstein, best known for Minority Report and Kong: Skull Island; Jane Goldman, who worked on Kingsman: The Secret Service and X-Men: First Class; Brian Helgeland, whose credits include A Knight’s Tale and L.A. Confidential; and Carly Wray of Mad Men.

If a sequel makes it to production, EW reported that it likely won’t air until at least a year after Game of Thrones Season 8 airs in 2019.

Are you excited about the Game of Thrones sequels? Tell us in the comments below.

Game of Thrones Season 8 returns to HBO in 2019.

[Featured Image by HBO]