HBO has issued a statement regarding the cancellation of the Game of Thrones prequel, speculated to have been titled Bloodmoon.
In a statement provided to Deadline, the network thanked the cast and crew for all their hard work. The show had already filmed its first pilot and was in editing when rumors about its cancellation emerged earlier this week.
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“After careful consideration, we have decided not to move forward to series with the Untitled Game of Thrones prequel,” it stated. “We thank Jane Goldman, S.J. Clarkson, and the talented cast and crew for all of their hard work and dedication.”
Deadline was the first to break the news on October 29, and immediately after, HBO sent out a slew of press releases announces its slate for new series on both HBO and HBOMax. Instead of the Naomi Watts-led program being included, another rumored prequel centered around the Targaryen family, was confirmed.
The women involved in the dead series have not yet publicly commented on the cancellation, but Emilia Clarke has. "I'm not really too sure [what happened]. It's difficult to get stuff made," she told ET at a recent event. "I wonder. Maybe it'll be reincarnated at some point, but if it wasn't meant to happen now, then I'm sure it's because they know that it wasn't going to be as perfect as it should have been."
This story was originally published October 30.
That Naomi Watts-led Game Of Thrones prequel is reportedly no more. According to Deadline, Bloodmoon, which was set thousands of years before the events of GOT, has been cut from the cutting room floor — literally. Showrunner Jane Goldman reportedly told the cast and crew that the show was dead while the pilot episode was still in editing. HBO could not confirm this news to Refinery29.
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"From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know," HBO's official synopsis of the series read. Bloodmoon reportedly collapsed following rumours of "issues" during filming.
The cancellation comes after a somewhat controversial final season of Game Of Thrones. Fans believed it to be rushed and a disservice to the rest of the series, even calling for it to be rewritten via a petition. Bloodmoon, however, didn't come from the brains of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. It was a woman-led series that now doesn't have the chance to reach its potential.
It's not all bad news. Bloodmoon was just one of the prequel projects HBO has up its sleeve. There's also a Targaryen-based prequel set 300 years before Game Of Thrones lead by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal vaguely in the works, which is now fans' main hope for more Game Of Thrones content.