George RR Martin has given an update on his involvement in the various Game of Thrones spin-offs currently in the works and confirmed that Kit Harington has visited him to discuss the upcoming sequel that he is developing, which will focus on Jon Snow.
House of the Dragon will be the first spin-off, which is due to start airing on August 21, 2022. Martin’s blog-post is long, so we’ve selected some of his comments, including; “Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development. The Hollywood Reporter story was largely correct…Our working title for the show is Snow.”
“There are four live-action successor shows in development at HBO. Word got out about three of them some time ago. Ten Thousand Ships – the Nymeria show – helmed by Amanda Segel. Sea Snake with Bruno Heller. And the Dunk & Egg show – The Hedge Knight – with Steve Conrad writing.” Martin continued; “Snow has been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now.”
Martin confirmed that the idea for Snow came from Harington himself; “There’s not much more I can tell you, not until HBO gives me a greenlight. It seems as though Emilia Clarke has already mentioned that Snow was Kit’s idea in a recent interview. So that part is out. Yes, it was Kit Harington who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
“Various rumours are floating around about my involvement, or lack of same. I am involved, just as I am with The Hedge Knight, The Sea Snake, Ten Thousand Ships, and all the animated shows. Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/consultants to hammer out the show.”
Martin emphasises that none of these shows have been greenlit by HBO; “All four of these successor shows are still in the script stage. Outlines have been written and approved, scripts have been written…So far, that’s all. This is the way television works. Please note: nothing has been greenlit yet, and there is no guarantee when or if it will be… on any of these shows. The likelihood of all four series getting on the air… well, I’d love it, but that’s not the way it works, usually.”
Considering the kind of budgets needed to make an epic fantasy series work, all four shows might be a tall-order. However, it seems likely that because of Harington’s involvement in front of, and behind the camera, that the Jon Snow series will come to fruition. This won’t be the first television show that Harington has created – there was also 2017’s Gunpowder, about the Guy Fawkes plot to blow up parliament.
While we wait for more news about the Jon Snow series, check out our guide to the best Game of Thrones characters.