"Game of Thrones" will end after its eighth season, but that does not mean that the story will end with that. George R.R. Martin, the author of the book series that served as the source material of the show, has just signed a contract with HBO and four writers, each of which will pen a different story for television.
Martin will be working with Jane Goldman, who wrote the script for 2010 superhero movie "Kickass"; Carly Wray, a "Mad Men" writer; Brian Helgeland, who wrote "LA Confidential"; and Max Borenstein, one of the writers of "Kong: Skull Island."
Dan Weiss and David Benioff, the showrunners of "Game of Thrones," will be part of the production of the spin-off projects. However, they will not be part of the writing team. Martin will also be involved in this.
However, do not expect these spin-offs to air soon, as the writers do not seem to have been given a deadline to work on. A studio spokesperson said, "We'll take as much or as little time as the writers need and, as with all our development, we will evaluate what we have when the scripts are in."
No details have been given yet on what these four spin-offs will be about. While it is possible that they may feature fan-favorite characters such as Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Martin's — and the show's — propensity for killing off popular characters means that no one is truly safe on the show.
Martin previously said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that an adaptation of his "Dunk and Egg" stories would be a possible film project. However, he also said that given the number of characters and storylines in the universe he created, there are several other possibilities that HBO can explore.
"Game of Thrones" is slated to end by 2018. Its seventh season will premiere on July 16.
