Naomi Watts to star in HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel
LOS ANGELES: Two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts has been tapped to star in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel.
She is to star in the as-yet untitled project from creator Jane Goldman and George R.R. Martin.
The drama, picked up to pilot in June, is set thousands of years before the events of the HBO flagship. The story chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. A logline from the network teased the plot without divulging any specifics: “Only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend — it’s not the story we think we know.”
Watts will play a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret. The character’s name has not been revealed.
The pilot is based on a story from Goldman and Martin, with the teleplay credited to Goldman. Goldman will also serve as showrunner. In addition to Goldman and Martin, executive producers on the series include current “Game of Thrones” producer Vince Gerardis, as well as “Damages” and “Bloodline” co-creator Daniel Zelman and Jim Danger Gray. Chris Symes will serve as a co-EP.
Goldman and Martin’s “Game of Thrones” prequel is the first of several potential series set in the world of Westeros to move forward at HBO beyond the script phase.
In May 2017, a multitude of writers were revealed by HBO to be working on what Martin himself has described as “successor shows.” Those writers include Goldman, Max Borenstein (“Kong: Skull Island”), Brian Helgeland (“Legend”), Carly Wray (“Westworld”) and “Game of Thrones” veteran Bryan Cogman. “Game of Thrones” creators and showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are not involved in the successor show effort, focusing instead on the forthcoming final season of “Game of Thrones” after more than a decade spent wandering the world of the Seven Kingdoms.
In a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter, HBO programming president Casey Bloys said that any “Game of Thrones” successors, if greenlighted, would not air “until at least a year after the final season.”