AT&T's Wild Requests For Game Of Thrones Would Have Made The Series Unwatchable

Despite the way it ended, nobody can deny that "Game of Thrones" was a colossal cultural phenomenon. From enormous set pieces involving Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) massive dragons to huge battle scenes, "Game of Thrones" was nothing if not epic. Now imagine watching the Battle of the Bastards, the Red Wedding, or the Battle of Winterfell ... on your phone.

According to an interview with original showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss in The Wall Street Journal, AT&T — which owned HBO at the time — had a weird request for their fantasy series. They wanted the creators to film the series vertically, so that people could watch the show on their phones with ease; not only that, but they wanted Benioff and Weiss to produce mini episodes the WSJ described as "snackable."

"Dysfunction kills more projects than anything else, whether it's interpersonal dysfunction or institutional dysfunction," Weiss said, clearly referring to this mandate from AT&T. Benioff was far more direct: "When you sign a five-year deal with a company, you want that company to be stable so you can be left alone to do your work and not have to worry about it being bought by the phone company."

That wasn't the only wild thing that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss revealed in the profile. As they told the WSJ, they originally asked HBO if they could take the ending of "Game of Thrones" and make a whopping three feature films instead. As Benioff said, the premium network didn't go for it, and said the series was for "Home Box Office" (not, as Weiss joked, "Away Box Office").

This sounds great in theory, but there's one major issue; the interview notes that these movies would have replaced Season 7 and 8, the two of which spanned 13 episodes in total. Fans' complaints about these two seasons focused on one big thing: they felt rushed and short, but at the very least, they made up about 13 hours worth of material. Let's say that Benioff and Weiss got to do the movies they'd envisioned. If each film ran for roughly three hours, that would still only be 9 hours to wrap up the conclusion of George R.R. Martin's epic tale, and if the final seasons of "Game of Thrones" needed one improvement, it would be to add more time to bring the story to a triumphant finish.

The rushed pacing of the final season of "Game of Thrones" is ultimately just one of the major issues fans noticed — but it likely led to many of the other problems. Thanks to the abbreviated number of episodes, character arcs raced towards the finish line, the show's terrifying villains (like Lena Headey's Cersei Lannister and Vladimir Furdik's Night King) were dispatched with ease, and the show just sort of fizzled out. In the aftermath, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss seemed like persona non grata in Hollywood; their show "Confederate" never moved forward, Kathleen Kennedy canned their "Star Wars" project, and "Game of Thrones" fans were just furious.

Now, as the two prepare for the release of their upcoming Netflix series "3 Body Problem," they recognize that there's a lot on the line — something they probably weren't as aware of before "Game of Thrones" kicked off, considering they were somewhat new to the industry. "There's definitely pressure, but then again, when 'Thrones' was coming out, I remember having insomnia and being terrified," Benioff said. "It's nerve-racking when it's your first big thing, and it's nerve-racking when you've been at it for awhile and people are like, 'Well, do they still have it?'"

Some people think so; Richard Plepler, a former HBO executive, also participated in the interview and lavishly praised Benioff and Weiss: "You could throw those guys the keys and come back in two years and be very comfortable that they are going to deliver something remarkable." Let's hope he's right. "3 Body Problem" premieres on March 21.