More than winter is coming: Warner Bros. is developing a Game of Thrones movie

In the half decade since Game of Thrones finished its eight-season run on HBO, the premium cable network has put together numerous spinoff projects — only two of which have come to fruition: House of the Dragon and the upcoming prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Now, HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is making plans to bring George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world to the big screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is “quietly developing” a Game of Thrones movie, but it will certainly be a lot less quiet now that the word is out. The story notes that the project is still very early in development, with no director or screenwriters attached. It’s also unclear if the studio has a concept in mind for the film, or if Martin will be directly involved with crafting the story.

Ironically, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss pitched HBO a trilogy of movies to wrap up the series. Martin was reportedly in favor of that plan as well, but HBO was adamant that its most popular intellectual property remain exclusive to the network. This was before Max was launched as a standalone streamer, and new ownership took over. So there doesn’t seem to be a roadblock in the way of getting the film made now.

Thus far, almost all of the proposed Game of Thrones spinoffs have been prequels. While Martin’s backstory for his A Song of Ice and Fire novels has a lot territory to explore, there was a single Game of Thrones sequel series that would have featured Kit Harington reprising his role as Jon Snow. That project fell through, but a sequel story would be the only way to bring Harington and other cast members from the show back for a new story. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what develops.