Kaylyn Hohn 
Two characters have been cast for HBO’s prequel pilot to Game of Thrones.
Naomi Watts (King Kong, The Ring) and Joshua Whitehouse (Modern Life is Rubbish, Poldark) are both set to play prominent leads in the Game of Thrones prequel. Watts’s character is said to be “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”, according to Gamespot, and nothing has been revealed yet about who Whitehouse will play.
The pilot for the prequel was written by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass), along with the help of George R. R. Martin, who penned The Song of Ice and Fire series from which ‘Game of Thrones’ is based off of. Storyline and character roles for the new series are being kept under wraps by HBO.
What is known about the pilot is that it will begin filming in 2019, and it is set a thousand years before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones, around the founding of the noble houses, like the Starks and the Lannisters. HBO has confirmed that the show will “chronicle the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.”
This unnamed pilot isn’t the only Game of Thrones spin-off that HBO has planned. There are at least five being planned to carry on the story of Westeros after the final season of Game of Thrones airs, and HBO programming president Casey Bloys explained why to The Hollywood Reporter.
“It would be insane–with a universe like [author George R.R. Martin] has created that is so vast and has so many characters and so many timelines–to not, at least entertain the idea, which is what we’re doing. So the idea was, if we’re going to try it, let’s take a couple shots and see. My hope is at least one lives up to the level of quality [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] have set,” he said
The final season of Game of Thrones is set to air sometime in early 2019.
