Winter is coming to the big screen.
A film adaptation of Game of Thrones is officially in the works at Warner Bros., according to Page Six Hollywood.
A first draft of the film has already been submitted by Emmy-winning House of Cards creator Beau Willimon, who also wrote on Disney’s Andor, the outlet reported. No director nor any cast members have been attached to the project yet.
The film is reportedly a prequel to the acclaimed eight-season HBO series of the same name and will take place roughly 300 years earlier. It will likely center around Aegon I, who began the Targaryen dynasty that spawned the dragon-wielding Daenerys (Emilia Clarke).
“All of Game of Thrones stems back to him, and you’ve never seen him on any of the shows,” a source familiar with the project told Page Six.
Warner Bros. executives want the film to be “a mammoth Dune-sized feature film," The Hollywood Reporter reported in a January Profile of Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin.
It is unclear whether the project’s development will continue, as the potential merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount looms over all ongoing projects.
On Thursday, Netflix dropped out of its two-horse race with Paramount for Warner Bros. Discovery, leaving Paramount with a $111 billion winning bid. Warner’s new owner, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, will now battle for government approval, as the business union could be blocked under antitrust law.
Even if the merger is approved, there is no certainty what will happen to this project, or anything else currently on the Warner Bros. slate.
Game of Thrones, which ran for eight seasons in the 2010s, is among HBO’s most valuable assets. The medieval fantasy show earned 59 Emmys in its critically acclaimed run out of a whopping 159 nominations.
Despite a critically panned Game of Thrones final season, the world of Westeros has remained popular through spinoffs, including House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Clearly, there is still an appetite for HBO’s most-viewed show of all time—including from its new owner, who recently said it was his favorite Warner show. It remains uncertain whether the project will get the greenlight from the new Ellison-backed ownership group.
