Game of Thrones spinoff centered on King’s Landing slum Flea Bottom is not moving forward. In 2011 George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series became the HBO fantasy show Game of Thrones. And Game of Thrones quickly became a massive hit.
Becoming massive of course proved to be a double-edged sword for the show as fans’ expectations were raised through the roof. Unfortunately the show’s finale infamously failed to live up to those sky-high expectations. But HBO isn’t giving up on Game of Thrones despite disappointment over the way season 8 turned out as the network is currently in the process of developing several spinoffs. The first of these spinoffs to hit the air will be House of the Dragon, a prequel set during the Targaryen Civil War. Warrior queen Nymeria is also set to get her own show with 10,000 Ships, while House of the Dragon character Velaryon will be featured on his own spinoff 9 Voyages. There’s also Tales of Dunk & Egg, based on Martin’s own novellas.
Not all previously reported Game of Thrones spinoffs are still going ahead however. THR just reported that the show built around the King’s Landing slum Flea Bottom, which was originally revealed alongside 10,000 Ships and 9 Voyages, has hit the scrap heap. The Flea Bottom show reportedly was in very early stages of development before the plug was pulled.
It sounds like Flea Bottom never got very far along before someone decided the idea wouldn’t fly. Such was not the case for the Game of Thrones spinoff The Long Night/Bloodmoon, which got as far as casting stars like Naomi Watts and even shot a pilot before getting the axe. Clearly HBO wants to get things right with their roster of Game of Thrones spinoffs, which is not too surprising given how lucrative the brand has turned out to be for the network. Incidentally, Game of Thrones isn’t only getting live-action spinoffs as HBO Max is reportedly developing a trio of animated GoT shows, basically turning Game of Thrones into HBO/HBO Max’s version of the Star Wars streaming universe.
Given the huge number of Game of Thrones spinoffs that are still going forward it’s hard to be too disappointed that Flea Bottom never saw the light of day. The idea was unique among Game of Thrones spinoff concepts though in that it was set to focus on the underbelly of King’s Landing rather than dealing with epic goings-on from Westerosi history involving kings, queens and other high-born types. It may indeed have been interesting to see more of the dregs of King’s Landing society, living their little lives before being burned up by Daenerys and Drogon, but clearly HBO didn’t believe the idea had enough merit to keep the show in their incredibly elaborate but obviously still very fluid Game of Thrones spinoff plans.
Source: THR