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New Game of Thrones prequel TV series 'Tales of Dunk and Egg' in development at HBO
HBO is once again plunging into the rich fantasy mine contained within the pages of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones universe. Variety now reports that yet another prequel series entitled The Tales of Dunk and Egg has entered the early stages of development at the premium cable network.
The one-hour series plans to adapt several of Martin's Don Quixote-esque novellas that center around Ser Duncan the Tall ("Dunk") and a young Aegon V Targaryen ("Egg") almost 100 years before the events of the main show. Three such novellas have been published so far — The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010). All of them were collected in the 2015 illustrated compendium, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Fans have apparently been clamoring for HBO to tackle the source material for several years now.
While the project has yet to attract a writer or talent, Variety writes that Dunk and Egg "is a high priority for HBO as the premium cabler looks to build on the success of Game of Thrones," which ended after eight seasons in 2019. In fact, Entertainment Weekly asserts that several prequels are being weighed right now, with writers (such as Gotham creator Bruno Heller) being asked to pitch ideas based on Martin's sprawling canon. For instance, "Robert's Rebellion," the conflict led by Robert Baratheon that resulted in the events of Game of Thrones, is reportedly among the ideas floating around.
However, no spinoffs of sequels inspired directly by the mothership series are being fielded at this time. So, don't expect an Arya Stark solo show to pop up, for example.
The Tales of Dunk and Egg is the third GoT prequel series to be considered by the network after Jane Goldman's failed pilot (set thousands of years before A Song of Ice and Fire) and House of the Dragon (an exploration of House Targaryen). The latter, which hails from seasoned Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik and Colony creator Ryan Condal, is actually moving forward and has already cast Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, and Emma D'Arcy to its core cast of dragon-riding royals. Set several centuries before the all-out war for the Iron Throne, House of the Dragon plans to debut sometime next year.
“The Game of Thrones universe is so rich with stories,” HBO's President of Programming Casey Bloys said in October 2019. “We look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros along with Miguel, Ryan and George.”
