George RR Martin says changes at HBO Max have ‘impacted’ future Game of Thrones projects

Author says ‘a couple’ of spin-offs have been shelved

George RR Martin has said changes at HBO Max have “impacted” future Game of Thrones spin-offs.

Earlier this week, the author gave his fans a disappointing update on the various spinoff shows that are in the works at the streamer.

He said that some of his planned shows have been “shelved” for now due to such changes.

In April, HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia merged with Discover. As per Variety, this means that HBO Max’s content slate has been cut in order to reduce costs. Shows including Love Life, Minx, and the reality series FBoy Island have all been cancelled.

Despite the huge success of this year’s House of the Dragon – the finale of the prequel series brought in the highest number of viewers for HBO since GoT – Martin said that the other projects in development are still up in the air.

“Some of those are moving faster than others, as is always the case with development,” he wrote on his blog.

“None have been greenlit yet, though we are hoping… maybe soon. A couple have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead. You can take something off the shelf as easily as you can put it on the shelf. All the changes at HBO Max have impacted us, certainly.”

The author did not specify which titles had been shelved. There are at least six spin-offs reportedly in the works at HBO, including a prequel series titled Tales of Dunk and Egg, 10,000 Ships, and a Jon Snow-centred series to which Kit Harington is already attached.

Kit Harington as Jon Snow in ‘Game of Thrones’ (HBO)

Elsewhere in his blog post, Martin praised Emma D’Arcy and Milly Alcock for receiving Golden Globe and Critics Choice nods, respectively, for their performances as Rhaenyra.

He added that he hopes other House of the Dragon stars – Steve Touissant, Paddy Considine, and Matt Smith – will be shown some “love” when the Emmy nominations are announced in July next year.

Martin also name-checked the films and TV shows he has enjoyed this year, which include Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, and season two of The White Lotus.