‘Game of Thrones’ might spawn new HBO shows, says creator

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is in its home stretch. But the game isn’t over for its creator, George R.R. Martin, who is in the thick of planning for potential new series on the network. (Photo: Game of Thrones/Facebook)

NEW YORK—HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is in its home stretch. But the game isn’t over for its creator, George R.R. Martin, who is in the thick of planning for potential new series on the network.

Posting on his website, Martin shared some tidbits about what any future “GOT”-related shows might, or might not, be.

HBO announced last week that four scripts are in development for possible series, but Martin disclosed that a fifth project is now in the mix.

But don’t call them “spin-offs.”

“What we’re talking about are new stories set in the ‘secondary universe’ . of Westeros and the world beyond, the world I created for ‘A Song of Ice and Fire,”’ Martin wrote. “None of these new shows will be ‘spinning off’ from ‘GOT’ in the traditional sense. We are not talking ‘Joey’ or ‘AfterMASH’ or even ‘Frasier’ or ‘Lou Grant,’ where characters from one show continue on to another.”

He added that each of the concepts under development is a prequel, not a sequel, and may not even be set on the mythical continent of Westeros. Rather than “spinoff” or “prequel,” Martin said he prefers the term “successor show.”

HBO has said that four separate projects are in the writing stage from Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland and Carly Wray, all of whom Martin said he has been working with for months.

But he said yet a fifth project is now underway, with a fifth writer on board he declined to name.

“How many pilots will be filmed, and how many series might come out of that, remains to be seen,” he noted.

Only 13 episodes remain for “Game of Thrones,” which HBO is splitting into two final seasons. It returns in July.

As for “The Winds of Winter,” the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated sixth novel in Martin’s epic fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the author said he will “continue working on it until it’s done.”

“I will confess, I do wish I could clone myself, or find a way to squeeze more hours into the day, or a way to go without sleep,” the busy Martin admitted.