Game of Thrones prequel: HBO announces filming date for series starring Naomi Watts

SJ Clarkson will direct the season premiere

While the eighth season of Game of Thrones has still not been released, work continues on the prequel series.

The latest update comes from HBO president Casey Bloys, who has revealed that the as-yet-untitled project will begin filming in the early summer.

According to EW, Bloys told a reporters that they hoped the project would be underway within the first half of 2019.

Last month, HBO announced that SJ Clarkson – best known for Jessica Jones – would direct the premiere episode.

The cast list for the prequel series, said to take place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, has also been announced, led by Naomi Watts.

While filming begins relatively soon, Bloys has previously confirmed that the series will not air until at least a year after the main-series finale.

Should the show be greenlit for a full season, we could be watching the prequel in either 2020 or 2021.

Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class) will act as showrunner, having developed a script with George RR Martin.

The official synopsis reads: “Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.

“And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”

Read everything we know about the prequel series here.