HBO Is 'Excited' About Game Of Thrones Prequel Scripts

It's beginning to sound increasingly likely that there will actually be a Game of Thrones prequel series.

Ever since HBO announced the hiring of several different writers to work on treatments for five different possible spinoffs, the cable network maintained that it would only move forward with one as long as everything was perfect. But HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler recently gave Variety the most optimistic thoughts on the matter to date.

"It's a fantastic group of writers and talent, most of whom have lived inside the Thrones eco-system so are very, very familiar with its intricacies," he said. "I think we will find with this embarrassment of [writing] riches an exciting property for us to moves forward with. We are looking [at] some things, I have read a couple of early bibles and I'm excited about what I've seen."

It's a little strange that Plepler said all of the writers have "lived inside the Thrones eco-system," since only one of them (writer Bryan Cogman) has any direct experience with the show. However, author George R.R. Martin, creator of the novels the show is based upon, is closely involved with three of the five potential shows. 

HBO hasn't revealed what any of the scripts are about, but Martin did say that they're all prequels and probably won't feature any of the cast from Game of Thrones. He also said none of them will be based on the "Robert's Rebellion" storyline or his novellas Tales of Dunk and Egg.

If HBO does greenlight one of the series, we probably won't see it for a while. It won't come until well after the series finale of Game of Thrones, and that might not be until 2019.