Many projects in the entertainment industry are currently on hold due to the 2023 WGA writers strike after a deal could not be negotiated with suitable terms with the AMPTP. While the strike has meant production ceasing on many shows, House of the Dragon has been able to continue moving forward as the first Game of Thrones TV spinoff, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. According to Martin, however, two other projects have gotten some bad news.
News broke shortly after the strike began that while shows like Saturday Night Live had to stop production with the writers on strike, House of the Dragon didn’t shut down because all of the scripts for Season 2 had been completed. Season 2 continuing production after announcing which characters will be returning for Season 2 is just about the only good news that Martin could confirm in his latest post on his Not a Blog website, as he shared:
Peacock has passed on WILD CARDS, alas. A pity. We will try to place it elsewhere, but not until the strike is over. The writer’s room on A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS: THE HEDGE KNIGHT has closed for the duration. Ira Parker and his incredible staff of young talents are on the picket lines.
A series based on Martin’s Wild Cards universe has been in development going back to 2018, when Hulu was nearing a deal to secure the rights. Back in January, George R.R. Martin shared the update on Not a Blog that the show was developing for Peacock with the pilot mostly based on the Fort Freak book, but his update in February was less positive. Now, it seems that if Wild Cards is going to make it to television, it won’t be for those with Peacock subscriptions… and not for some time, in light of the writers strike.
The second update will be more of a bummer for fans of George R.R. Martin for his world of Westeros rather than Wild Cards, as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight was announced less than a month ago. At the time, the author confirmed the series order and said that it would likely run for six episodes, with the pilot written by House of the Dragon writer Ira Parker. Martin had revealed that writing was underway, even though there was no plan for when production would begin.
All of which means that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may not make any progress for the foreseeable future, until the writers strike is resolved. The last WGA strike prior to the 2023 strike lasted for 100 days, from late 2007 – early 2008. On the whole, fans of the Game of Thrones universe can at least be happy that House of the Dragon Season 2 is still on the way as planned. As for the strike, George R.R Martin stated that he wanted to “go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild.”
But what does this mean for The Winds of Winter, for those curious and/or still hopeful about the sixth book of the A Song of Ice and Fire saga? Well, Martin says that “You can relax,” as the writers strike only applies to film and television, and the work on his novels and short stories “continues unabated.” According to the author, Winds of Winter “continues to be priority number one.” Notably, he did not provide a time by which he hopes to finish the novel, which may be for the best. I’m not the only one who remembers when he intended to finish Winds of Winter by 2016, am I?
For now, if you want to enjoy the world of Westeros on the small screen, you can revisit the full run of Game of Thrones and the first season of House of the Dragon. There’s no saying at this point how long the writers strike will last.