Years before Game of Thrones came to a polarizing end, there was talk of the final season being turned into a movie (if not movies), with author George R.R. Martin going so far as to say that he “liked the idea.” But while he had “great enthusiasm for the notion,” as did many fans, HBO had other plans. “They are in the TV business, not the feature film business,” Martin added. “And those of you with long memories may recall all the rumors about a SOPRANOS movie… a ROME movie… a DEADWOOD movie. Rumors is all they were. And that’s all this one is too, at least for now.” (Five years later, two of those shows, The Sopranos and Deadwood, have been turned into movies.)
In a new interview with German publication Welt, Martin was asked whether Thrones could still be turned into a movie. “At this point in time, it wouldn’t be for me to decide, because HBO controls the film rights for Game of Thrones,” he responded (translation via Reddit). “Apart from that, we had actually considered this option: David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the two creators behind the series, actually wanted to end the saga after the seventh season with three big movies. Game of Thrones was to end in the cinema. Four or five years ago, it was seriously discussed.” Martin explained why it didn’t work:
“Because HBO didn’t get involved. The responsible people said, ‘We produce TV series, we’re not in the cinema business.’ And when HBO makes movies, like now with [Deadwood], then they produce it only to show it on TV – not in the cinema. Everything is changing right now. What is cinema today? What is television? What is streaming? Is Netflix now making cinema or television? Everything mixes. Today we no longer know where the boundaries are between cinema, streaming providers, and television.”
It’s going to be so much easier when Disney owns everything, including HBO, and Game of Thrones: The Movie: The Samwell Chronicles is released on Disney+.
