Spoilerphobes beware: The Daily Star in the U.K. reports that A Song of Ice and Fire novelist George R.R. Martin has said that HBO will bring Game of Thrones to the big screen following the conclusion of its television series. Martin reportedly discussed the potential film at the HBO after-party following the Emmy Awards this month, where HBO and Game of Thrones were the big winners of the night.

“There will be a movie but I will not be involved,” Martin reportedly said, “I have too much to do. That is something HBO and the DB and David are dealing with.”

That certainly sounds like it would be true, even though HBO is denying this unconfirmed report/rumor. (For what it’s worth, they’ve also denied a certain someone is coming back too—but we’re convinced they are lying about that, so grains of salt all around, folks.)

Martin has already pledged in recent years to cut back on activities—including some involvement in the show—to finish writing the last two books in the series. Season 5 on HBO did not advance most of the storylines past Martin’s 5^th book, A Dance With Dragons, and in some cases the argument could be made the show intentionally treaded water to avoid doing so.

“The pressure is on,” the Star continued to report. “I am such a slow writer and the fans get upset that I don’t write faster.” Whether or not The Winds of Winter—the next book to be released in the series—will be out before season 6 on HBO airs next spring is still unknown. Unless Martin has been withholding how much of the final two books is truly finished, the odds of the show finishing before the books looks greater than ever. Season 6 is currently filming, and those storylines are unquestionably using plots from the unreleased sixth book, and possibly the seventh, A Dream of Spring.

So what would a Game of Thrones movie that comes after the conclusion of the series—and theoretically the conclusion of A Song and Ice and Fire—entail? The Daily Star purports that a production insider believes the movie might look backwards.

“They are looking at dipping back in time during certain periods of the series, which could be examined as a one-off plot. That means that some of the big characters who fans have seen die on screen could be resurrected, such as Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, Oberyn Martell The Red Viper—and Ned Stark,” the Star quotes the insider as saying.

If HBO wanted to run a different Game of Thrones series for the rest of the century they’d have no problem finding the material, thanks to the rich depth of Martin’s world and its history. In fact, fitting one story into a movie might actually be too limiting: I mean, how much money would a five-part movie series of Robert’s Rebellion make you think?

If HBO wanted to continue producing content from Martin’s world, but didn’t want to be beholden to the show, they could go back even further. The Targaryen civil war (one of them), known as “The Dance of the Dragons,” would probably not be financially feasible on television because it involves massive dragon-against-dragon fights, but on a movie budget it could be doable. Imagine dragon fights on an IMAX screen and you can see why these long-rumored talks of a Game of Thrones movie make a lot of sense.

It might be unfair to take one of the greatest shows of all-time and conclude it in a movie theater, but one not directly connected to the story of the show and novels would have massive appeal. We’ll stand guard along The Wall and bring any further news or confirmation of this story when we get it.

Oh and while you’re here, let’s fall down another potential Thrones rabbit hole, shall we:

So what storyline from A Song of Ice and Fire do you think would be the best for a film-adaptation? What about for a series of films? Tell us in the comments section below.

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HT: The Daily Star
Image: HBO