There was a Game of Thrones spinoff series in development at one point being developed by Brian Helgeland, who previously worked on projects such as L.A Confidential, A Knight’s Tale, Man on Fire, and Mystic River.
The movie was titled Ten Thousand Ships and the story would have been Moses-inspired tale that centered on Queen Nymeria. Helgeland recently shared some details on the scrapped series, and it sounds like it would’ve made for a great show!
He was working on this project back in 2017, a few years before Game of Thrones ended. Screenwriter Amanda Segel was hired as a writer on the series, but the show has never been given the official greenlight from HBO.
Helgeland began: “It came out great, but I think they felt the period of my show was too far removed from the pillars of the original. That’s why it hasn’t been picked up yet, but nothing is ever dead. My script was based on Queen Nymeria and this little blurb about her that was in a Westeros encyclopedia.”
When talking about the story, he revealed: “Essentially, it was the story of Moses but swapping him out for Nymeria. Her country gets ruined and her people are forced to live on the water, which is why the show was called ‘Ten Thousand Ships.’”
He continued: “They end up having to leave and find a new home like the Israelites leaving Egypt. She’s leading all these people, trying to hold everyone together but things are always in danger of falling apart as they travel around a fictionalized version of the Mediterranean, looking for a new home to settle in.”
The creator of the shared the following details: “Their life was nomadic. Living in a raft city that was bound together, this big floating city. Sometimes, the characters would come ashore, but they ultimately get driven off the land as they search for a home, their version of the promised land.”
Helgeland went on to talk about meeting with George R.R. Martin for the project, saying: “I met with George R.R. Martin to pitch him the idea, which he signed off on. Sadly, I didn’t work with him closer, but I would have done if the show was picked up.”
He added: “It was kind of like Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films mixed with ‘The Odyssey.’ In a way, Nymeria is Odysseus, but instead of a 12-person crew, she’s responsible for every citizen in this floating city-state. My work is still there if HBO wants to pick it up. I enjoyed my time developing it, and you just never know.”
I would actually love to see that story brought to life! It sounds like an incredible epic adventure series. HBO still can make it if they want, but as of right now, they’re focusing on other Game of Thrones projects.
House of the Dragon Season 2 is coming this summer and a second spinoff series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knightis is currently in development with Peter Claffey as Dunk, while Dexter Sol Ansell has been cast as Egg.
That show is set to go into production later this year.
Source: Inverse
