Warner Bros explores ‘Game of Thrones’ film as HBO expands fantasy franchise

Warner Bros has been quietly working on a film set in George RR Martin's fantasy world as HBO/Max and Warner Bros start merging their major fantasy franchises.

Warner Bros is secretly developing at least one movie within Martin's vast universe, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Several insiders have described the project as being in the initial stages, with no director, cast, or script writer on board yet. However, the studio is eager to bring the world of Westeros to the big screen.

This decision could signal a change in the company's approach to the franchise. Originally, "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had envisioned wrapping up the series with a trilogy of films rather than the final season aired in 2019.

George RR Martin was also interested in a cinematic conclusion and mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter in 2014 that movie concepts were being discussed. 

However, HBO had long resisted the idea, choosing instead to keep "Game of Thrones" exclusive to the HBO brand as a high-profile series.

Since the conclusion of the original "Game of Thrones" series, HBO and Warner Bros have undergone numerous changes in their executive teams. HBO is now led by Casey Bloys, while Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy oversee the film studio. 

Alongside these shifts, the boundaries between film and television have evolved, with a growing openness to transitioning properties between the big and small screens.

Examples of this shift are evident in recent projects. Matt Reeves' box office success "The Batman" paved the way for an HBO spinoff series, "The Penguin."

Likewise, Max is launching "Dune: Prophecy," a TV series building on Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" films. 

HBO is also developing a new TV adaptation of JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels, while Warner Bros is working on fresh "Lord of the Rings" movies as Amazon's "The Rings of Power" unfolds on television.

In short, the idea that a genre property must be either a film or a TV series has become outdated, making it unsurprising that "Game of Thrones" might be the next to expand across mediums.

In 2022, HBO released the popular prequel series "House of the Dragon," which recently completed its second season. 

The network also has another prequel, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," scheduled for 2025. Other projects are in development as well, with post "Game of Thrones" storylines remaining an enticing, unexplored area, as all successor shows so far have been prequels.

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