George R.R. Martin: ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Moves from Live Action to Animation

George R.R. Martin ended 2023 with a big announcement. Not about his books — the new ones, anyway — but the author of “A Song of Ice and Fire” offered an update on the various projects in progress that will adapt his works, including animated series.

Martin posted to his blog on December 31, echoing popular sentiments about Peak TV and heaping praise on Netflix’s “Blue Eye Samurai,” a show that recently won him over. (He saw the parallels to his own work, as did IndieWire’s Bill Desowitz.) He noted he has discussed multiple animated projects from the “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “Game of Thrones” universe in previous and ongoing conversations with HBO, including two which were shelved. (He strongly prefers “shelved” to “killed.”)

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He then announced that “Nine Voyages,” a “House of the Dragon” tie-in about the adventures of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), had moved from live-action to animation, a move Martin says he wholeheartedly supports.

“Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to… well, on and on and on,” he wrote. “There’s a whole world out there.  And we have a lot better chance of showing it all with animation.”

Martin’s candor and HBO’s decision parallel the creative choices being made at other networks and studios. Marvel has “What If…” in addition to the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe, a chance to bring together characters and settings that never collide in the MCU — and maybe never even could due to budgets, schedules, and contracts. On Netflix, the home of “Blue Eye Samurai” and “Love Death + Robots,” which Martin also name-checked, the recent “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” reunited the cast of 2010’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” for a brand-new animated adventure.

It’s not that Martin and HBO are signaling a sea-change for television (ha), but rather reflecting the reality of large-scale TV and film universes needing to adapt and experiment in order to successfully expand. At the time of Martin’s blog post, HBO’s confirmed “Game of Thrones” spinoffs in development included “House of the Dragon” Season 2, the Jon Snow series “Snow,” an adaptation of “Dunk and Egg” called “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,” and the Nymeria-set “10,000 Ships.” And as Martin noted, others have come and gone in the past — even if they may rise again.

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