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«Game of Thrones»: The White Walkers and the long night
by Luca Fontana
"Game of Thrones" returns, but not as planned
30.10.2019
Translation: machine translated
The 'Game of Thrones' spin-off series about the White Walker invasion has been cancelled. But in exchange, HBO has announced 'House of the Dragon', a new spin-off series. At the same time, the Sky deal should be renewed - which excludes HBO Max in our country.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly magazine, HBO has cancelled the "Game of Thrones" spin-off series starring Naomi Watts. The pilot episode, which has already been filmed in June 2019, failed to convince those in charge. Those who fear that 'Game of Thrones' is coming to an end can be reassured: via the official Twitter channel HBO has announced "House of the Dragon", also a ten-part "Game of Thrones" series.
HBO cancels "The Long Night"
The news of the spin-off's cancellation comes as a surprise, as those in charge had already been talking a lot about the content of the planned series. For example, novelist George R.R. Martin revealed that the series would take place around 5,000 years before the events of the HBO series and would deal with the first invasion of the continent of Westeros by the White Walkers.
Westeros is a completely different place to the one we know in the series. There is no King's Landing. There is no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens - Valyria is just beginning to build her great empire with the help of dragons. We're dealing with a completely different, older world, which we hope will be part of the series.
In fact, it was George R.R. Martin who proposed "The Long Night" as the title for the spin-off, named after the generation-long winter in which the White Walkers swept across the land astridehuge spiders of ice and wiped out much of the population of Westeros with their armies of the dead - until the legendary Azor Ahai, the prince who was promised, stood up to them.
Nothing is known about the exact reasons for the cancellation.
HBO announces "House of the Dragon"
The spin-off announced in place of "The Long Night" is no longer set so far in the past, only a few hundred years before. Based on the book "Fire & Blood" by George R.R. Martin, published in 2019, the rise to power and decline of House Targaryen - the family whose origins lie on the continent of Essos and who conquered the continent of Westeros with the help of three dragons - will certainly be themed.
However, the new spin-off will still be produced by George R.R. Martin. Miguel Sapochnik has been hired as showrunner and director of the pilot episode. Connoisseurs of the series will be pleased, after all, he directed the episodes 'Hardhome' in season 5 and 'Battle of the Bastards' in season 6, which were very elaborately staged. He was also responsible for two very impressive episodes in the less popular eighth season, 'The Long Night' and 'The Bells'. Either way, the signs point to plenty of action, because that's what Sapochnik stands for.
That should fit the subject matter. Finally, the story of the Targaryens represents two historical events in the history of Westeros: the wars of conquest and the dance of the dragons.
This should fit the subject matter.
During the Wars of Conquest 300 years ago, Prince Targaryen Aegon, along with his two married sisters Rhaenys and Visenya, will conquer the seven still autonomous kingdoms and unite them into one empire, while the Iron Throne is forged in the fire of his dragon Balaeron. Centuries later, during the Dance of the Dragons, the bloody civil war between the candidates for the Targaryen throne, the decline of the dragons and the house of Targaryen is presented.
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Until then, however, fire will reign, as the featured poster announces.
HBO wants to renew deal with Sky
We don't know when we can expect to see House of the Dragon. It's unlikely we'll see the series on HBO Max. Indeed rumours yesterday were circulating. The Hollywood Reporter reported that HBO was looking to renew its deal with pay-TV giant Sky.
The current deal expires in 2020 and had Sky holding distribution rights to all HBO content in Europe. So, if the agreement is indeed renewed, HBO Max should not, in the near future, see the light of day in our country.
But the market is not going to be the same.
But the deal isn't done yet. I'll keep you posted. If you want to be kept up to date on the world of film and TV series, follow me by clicking on the "Follow the author" button.
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»
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