House of the Dragon isn’t the only Game of Thrones prequel. It is the first to make it to the screen.
Back in 2018, HBO announced a pilot for a now-canceled Game of Thrones prequel – Bloodmoon. It even entered development, and a $30 million pilot episode was made.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, not even George R.R. Martin himself has seen the failed pilot.
“It wasn’t unwatchable or horrible or anything,” said former WarnerMedia chairman Robert Greenblatt. “It was very well produced and looked extraordinary. But it didn’t take me to the same place as the original series. It didn’t have that depth and richness that the original series’ pilot did.”
Bloodmoon would have taken place years before Game of Thrones during the fabled Age of Heroes and the wintry apocalypse known as The Long Night.
Starring Naomi Watts, the prequel would have delved into a time period unseen on screen… and that’s half the problem. There were only a few lines in George R.R. Martin’s books that ever touched upon the events this series would cover.
“Bloodmoon was a very difficult assignment,” said Martin. “We’re dealing with a much more primitive people. There were no dragons yet. A lot of the pilot revolved around a wedding of a Southern house to a Northern house and it got into the whole history of the White Walkers.”
Despite concerns, showrunner Jane Goldman was reportedly confident in the pilot, assembling a writers' room and making changes to the episode based on studio feedback.
And that’s when the show was canceled.
“Having a show that’s pure invention and had George scratching his head at various moments was troubling at times,” claimed an unnamed insider.
“It required a lot more invention; it was higher risk, higher reward,” said HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys. “There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. Development and pilots are hard.”
The pilot episode of the unreleased Game of Thrones prequel was filmed in Northern Ireland back in 2019 but was ultimately shelved. However, HBO did announce that a separate series, the upcoming Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, had been given the greenlight.
Now, House of the Dragon is heading to our screens on August 21, 2022 – just next month. And with a Jon Snow sequel also in the works, it looks as though Game of Thrones isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Still, can’t help wondering what’s in that $30 million pilot…
Want to find out more about Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon? Check out the latest details from the show and find out everything you need to know before it airs.
Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon is expected to premiere on HBO in 2022.
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Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.