George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series on which Game of Thrones is based, will sign a new development deal with HBO, the writer said in the comment field of his LiveJournal.
Martin (often shortened to GRRM by his fans) mentioned the development deal while answering a question about his in-development series, Captain Cosmos. First announced in 2015, Captain Cosmos is about a 1940s science fiction writer telling “stories no one else will dare to tell.” Developed as part of a previous development deal with HBO, the cable network ultimately passed on producing a pilot. But GRRM’s new deal could clear the way for Captain Cosmos once more, allowing Martin’s co-writer, Michael Cassutt (Z Nation), to shop the pilot around to other networks.
“I am close to signing a new deal with HBO,” Martin wrote, keeping his television projects exclusive to HBO into the future. But other than discussing the fate of Captain Cosmos, Martin kept mum on what his new deal entails, saying only, “I have lots of other stuff in development at HBO.”
While HBO is developing a Game of Thrones spin-off show set in Westeros, it’s not clear to what degree Martin would be involved. He’s previously indicated he’s happy to have HBO develop additional shows based on his other stories set in Westeros, such as the “Dunk & Egg” novellas that follow Daenerys Targaryen’s great grandfather,but he’s not actively developing anything Game of Thrones- related with the network.
It’s also unlikely that Martin is developing an HBO series based on Wild Cards, the superhero anthology series he edits and oversees with sci-fi author Melinda M. Snodgrass, as the development rights were sold in 2016.
For now, it’s a mystery what form it will take, but it’s likely that in the coming years we’ll see another George R.R. Martin series on HBO.
