MOVIE NEWS – The Game of Thrones franchise appears to be moving onto the big screen after Warner Bros. secured a prequel script from the writer behind one of the most acclaimed Star Wars projects ever. It’s been known the studio wanted to bring the fantasy saga to theaters, but now it sounds like the plan has advanced in a meaningful way.

The Wrap has backed up PageSix’s reporting that Andor writer Beau Willimon has submitted a script for a Game of Thrones prequel film, and Warner Bros. is said to be very pleased with where it stands. PageSix also claims its sources believe the movie follows Aegon I Targaryen, the first king to sit the Iron Throne. The story would reportedly cover his “bloody conquest” that forged the Targaryen dynasty 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Fans have waited a long time for a project that tackles Aegon’s Conquest, and while a TV series angle floated around for a while, it now sounds like the story is being steered toward a theatrical release instead.

Of course, PageSix notes there’s one major catch attached to the exciting development. Even if Warner Bros. is enthusiastic about the project’s current state, the looming Paramount Skydance deal has left everything hanging. Any theatrical slate the studio is mapping out for the next few years could shift dramatically once the buyout is finalized. The company has promised 15 releases a year out of Warner Bros., but it’s still unclear which projects will be allowed to move forward as currently configured. Still, the Game of Thrones feature seems to be moving along cleanly, so it may only be a matter of time before fans get more concrete news about the long-anticipated movie.

With Willimon in place to write the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel, it’s hard to picture a more compelling TV-world creative to take on one of the biggest fantasy properties ever. Before he wrote episodes of Andor, including the widely praised “One Way Out”, Willimon was best known as the creator, showrunner, and writer of Netflix’s House of Cards. He also created the sci-fi drama The First, and he serves as an executive producer on Apple TV’s Severance. On the feature side, Willimon previously wrote The Ides of March and Mary Queen of Scots.

As Warner Bros. lines up what would be the first-ever Game of Thrones movie, the franchise is still thriving on the small screen. HBO is currently running two different series: the massively popular House of the Dragon and, more recently, the critically praised A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. While George R. R. Martin is no longer closely involved with the former, he has been vocal about his enthusiasm for and commitment to the latter, which adapts his Tales of Dunk and Egg novels. It’s unclear whether he has any input on the prequel movie, but it’s safe to say Game of Thrones isn’t leaving our screens anytime soon.

Source: MovieWeb