Because the only thing A Song Of Ice And Fire creator George R.R. Martin loves more than a good quasi-pornographic food scene is writing in additional characters he can later kill off, Martin announced yesterday on his blog that he and HBO are working on a fifth potential spin-off—or, as he prefers to call them, “successor show”—of the series’ wildly popular TV adaptation Game Of Thrones.
“We had four scripts in development when I arrived in LA last week, but by the time I left we had five. We have added a fifth writer to the original four. No, I will not reveal the name here. HBO announced the names of the first four, and will no doubt announce the fifth as well, once his deal has closed,” Martin writes. The network previously announced that it was developing four pilot scripts for potential spin-offs, either as full series or standalone miniseries, with Kong: Skull Island writer Max Borenstein, Kingsman: The Secret Service writer Jane Goldman, L.A. Confidential writer Brian Helgeland, and Mad Men staff writer Carly Wray at their helms.
Martin also clarified a few details about the projects, noting that he’s been working with all four (or, now, five) writers rather than two of them, as was previously reported. He also confirmed that none of the series will be a “spin-off” in the sense of continuing stories about familiar characters—i.e., that The A.V. Club’s proposed ideas were way off—and that every one of them is a prequel, rather than a sequel, to the main storyline. “So all of you who were hoping for the further adventures of Hot Pie are doomed to disappointment,” Martin writes. Fans hoping for a Dunk & Egg series based on Martin’s novellas or the story of Robert’s Rebellion are similarly bound to be disappointed, as those aren’t happening, either.
Martin ends his dispatch with the now-customary caveat: “And yes, before someone asks, I AM STILL WORKING ON WINDS OF WINTER and will continue working on it until it’s done”—bolding and capital letters his.