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According to a new report, executives at the former owner of HBO–AT&T–asked if Game of Thrones could be filmed vertically to appeal to people who who wanted to watch on their phone. The Wall Street Journal reported this (as relayed by Variety), adding that AT&T also “openly discussed” the idea of making “snackable mini-episodes of the series” to help expand the show’s reach.
Neither of these things happened. But Game of Thrones co-creator D.B. Weiss told the publication, “Dysfunction kills more projects than anything else, whether it’s interpersonal dysfunction or institutional dysfunction.”
Also in the report, Weiss and David Benioff confirmed that they wanted to end Game of Thrones as a movie trilogy that would play in theaters. Benioff said network executives reminded him that HBO means “Home Box Office” not “Away Box Office.”
In the end, the plans Weiss and Benioff had for three films became two seasons and 13 episodes. The final two seasons are not very fondly remembered, either, as fans criticized things like Ed Sheeran’s cameo, Daenerys’ turn to becoming the mad queen, and the general storytelling approach as the series came to a close. The series finale in 2019 was the show’s most-watched episode of all time.
The series continued in 2022 with the debut of the spin-off House of the Dragon, which comes back for a second season later this year. Then in 2025, HBO will release the next spin-off, The Hedge Knight.
Weiss and Benioff are now working with Netflix and their next project is the ambitious sci-fi TV series 3 Body Problem, which releases in March.
