Speaking at today’s Television Critics Association event, HBO programming head Casey Bloys has provided a little more detail on just how soon we could be re-visiting Westeros once next year’s 8th and final season of GAME OF THRONES is done and dusted. Seems they’re gearing up to film the pilot for the untitled show early 2019, meaning that if all goes well and it goes to season, we’ll be looking at a 2020 launch proper.

While this all seems like a slam dunk, it’s worth remembering that the original GAME OF THRONES pilot did not exactly go to plan for HBO, resulting in the studio having to entirely scrap it and start over. Word has it (according to acclaimed screenwriter/podcaster Craig Mazin anyway, as very few actually got to see the thing) it was a “complete piece of sh*t”. Credit to HBO for sticking to their guns and giving it a second chance, otherwise we wouldn’t have the characters that we all know and love. Which brings us to our second concern… will the public get behind a spin-off if it features precisely zero of those aforementioned fan-favourites? Set thousands of years before the events of the hit show, the only recognisable character will be Westeros itself (and a whole slew of dragons, to be fair), resulting in a harder sell than first thought.

The very fact the untitled spin-off is still at the mercy of testing the waters means that HBO are very away of the latter situation coming to pass. But we’d wager that even if more episodes aren’t booked, it will be repurposed as a movie marketed straight to the real fans (basically anybody who clicked on this new story) via VOD, etc. HBO wouldn’t flush that kind of cash down the drain!

The pilot has been written by GOT godfather George R.R. Martin, and the prolific UK screenwriter Jane Goldman, who has enjoyed a slew of successes over her career, including X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, KICK-ASS, and most recently, KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. As for the director, the search is currently on for somebody to take the Iron Throne and call the shots…

While we wait for more developments, it has also been revealed today that GAME OF THRONES Season 8 will now premiere in “the first half of 2019”. Not long to go now, GOTers!