GRRM on pitching new projects to HBO

George R.R. Martin was stopped on the red carpet at the premier event for Game of Thrones's third season in Los Angeles and asked about his new development deal with HBO. Martin confirmed that he will not be running these projects directly but will be giving out initial ideas for HBO to develop with other producers.

Apparently to be discussed are an SF series (possibly an adaptation of his short story collection Tuf Voyaging, which he has hinted several times recently might be in development), a couple of historical dramas and the potential Game of Thrones prequel series, based on his Dunk and Egg short stories. If any of these come to fruition at HBO remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, there was also a lengthy discussion of the series featuring Martin, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and a large number of castmembers. Some interesting tidbits were dropped during the interview, with Martin indicating that his initial discussions with Benioff and Weiss happened whilst there were still only three books out (dating it to before A Feast for Crows' publication in October 2005). They then pitched the show to both HBO and Showtime in March 2006, a lot earlier than previously believed (HBO optioned the books in January 2007).

George R.R. Martin expands on HBO deal

Not very far, but Martin confirms that, in the wake of the new deal, he is actively discussing Dunk and Egg with HBO and will be pitching a Tuf Voyaging TV series to them as well (note he doesn't say to HBO, but the recent deal means it really has to be to HBO). He also suggests Conleth Hill (Varys in GoT) could make an excellent Haviland Tuf, and rules himself out from having any role on the new I, Claudius TV series.

No word on a possibly Ron Donachie-starring version of Fevre Dream, unfortunately. Martin's comments do confirm earlier supposition that the deal will be used - at least in part - to explore his existing, non-optioned franchises.

Update: Martin has confirmed that a movie version of Fevre Dream is in the works, with a 'name' director interested in the project. However, nothing has been signed yet. The Wild Cards franchise is currently being worked on as a movie collaboration between SyFy and Universal, with Melinda Snodgrass having just delivered her first draft of the script.

Quick Hits: GRRM, Rothfuss, Abraham, Scholes, STAR TREK

Locus has published its publication list from now until next summer, revealing some interesting information:

Expect the new Dunk and Egg story in 2013.

George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois's anthology Dangerous Women, including the fourth Dunk and Egg Song of Ice and Fire prequel novella, is now listed for release in May 2013. Amazon Germany is reporting that the book collecting all four Dunk 'n' Egg novellas into one volume will come out in May 2014. Whilst we have to take that with a grain of salt, that does tie in with the new story having a 12-month exclusivity contract before it can be reprinted anywhere else.

The same list confirms that the third Dagger and Coin novel by Daniel Abraham will be called The Tyrant's Law and that both it and Ken Scholes's long-awaited Requiem will be out in June 2013.

Meanwhile, Pat Rothfuss has sold a new fantasy trilogy to DAW Books. Despite speculation that this might be the rumoured sequel series to The Kingkiller Chronicle, there are also hints that this might be an urban fantasy trilogy consisting of notably shorter novels by Rothfuss's normal standards. He may also have already written (or partially written) the first book, meaning we might see it before The Doors of Stone (the final Kingkiller book). Hopefully Rothfuss will clear this up on his blog soon.

Finally, the new Star Trek movie allegedly has a title. It's Star Trek Into Darkness. Without a colon, which is apparently a deliberately stylistic choice. Hmm. Not sure about that one.