Fans of the epic adult fantasy series Game of Thrones have a long wait ahead of them before they're able to return to Westeros in 2019, and it looks like HBO isn't going to rush the spin-off series they have planned either. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, HBO's programming president Casey Bloys was asked about how the network's plans for expanding the GoT universe are progressing and gave an update on when we can expect to see the first prequel series. Bloys says:
"There are five of them. If we do a pilot and series, nothing is going to air on HBO until at least a year after the final season. We're not doing a final season and then, 'Following it at 11 p.m. … .' I've seen some exciting material. We have really great writers working on these; it's very exciting. But there's no timetable. Not everybody is on the same schedule, so I've seen different versions of different things that are potentially exciting. But there's no timetable about when a decision would be made about any of them."
Even though the gap between the seventh and eighth seasons of Game of Thrones is going to be longer than ever, the network isn't planning on taking away any attention from the final episodes of their hit show by quickly following it up with a spin-off. This is similar to how AMC handled the transition from Breaking Bad to the prequel spin-off Better Call Saul, as there was a 16-month gap between the two shows.
While there are five Game of Thrones spin-off series in development, Bloys mentioned that he's not sure how many of them will actually make the cut.
"I'll do anywhere from zero to five! (Laughs.) Though probably more likely one. But we'll see."
What kind of Game of Thrones spin-off do you want to see? Comment below!