Ten Thousand Ships: Scrapped Game of Thrones spinoff series is back on with new writer

Since the conclusion of Game of Thrones, HBO has been keen to keep the franchise alive with a variety of spinoff series, but not all of them will make it to the finish line. It was reported earlier this year that Ten Thousand Ships, a spinoff chronicling the journey of Princess Nymeria leading Rhoynar refugees to Dorne, had been shelved. However, George R.R. Martin says that the project is now back on with a new writer.

Martin wrote on his blog that Eboni Booth, who won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize last month for her play Primary Truth, is working on a new pilot script for Ten Thousand Ships. “She’s an amazingly talented young playwright, and a joy to work with; when not writing and producing her prize-winning plays on- and off-Broadway, she has been kept busy by me and HBO, working on a new pilot for TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, a GAME OF THRONES spinoff about Nymeria and the Rhoynar,” Martin wrote. “We’re all very excited about this one… though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for ten thousand ships, three hundred dragons, and those giant turtles.“

Ten Thousand Ships is set 1,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of warrior queen Princess Nymeria and the surviving Rhoynars who travel from Essos to Dorne following their defeat by Valyrian and their dragons.

Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) was previously tapped to write the script for the series and has explained why he believed the studio passed on his version. “It came out great, but I think they felt the period of my show was too far removed from the pillars of the original,” Helgeland explained. “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.“

Helgeland continued: “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.’ 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.“

As for the other Game of Thrones spinoffs, the second season of House of the Dragon is set to premiere on June 16th, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is expected to launch in late 2025.