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Author George R.R. Martin has clarified how the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike is affecting his various projects, including his Game of Thrones shows, House of the Dragon Season 2 and The Hedge Knight. Martin also revealed that one of his planned new shows, Wild Cards, is not moving ahead at its current network.
In a blog post, Martin confirmed reports that House of the Dragon Season 2 will continue in London and Wales because the scripts were already locked “long before the strike began.”
“Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons),” Martin said.
As for the Dunk and Egg series, which is called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, Martin said the writer’s room has been closed and will stay closed until the strike ends. Writer Ira Parker and his team are on the picket lines supporting the strike, Martin said.
Martin’s Dark Winds TV series, meanwhile, wrapped production on Season 2 months ago, he said, adding that post-production is nearing competition now. It’s expected to premiere this summer on AMC. Martin said there will be no decisions made on a potential third season for Dark Winds until after the strike ends.
Another of Martin’s projects, the Wild Cards TV series, is not moving ahead at Peacock, the author said. “Peacock has passed on Wild Cards, alas,” he wrote. “A pity. We will try to place it elsewhere, but not until the strike is over.”
Martin did not mention the new Jon Snow TV series in his blog post.
Outside of his TV projects, Martin said writing the next A Song of Ice and Fire book, The Winds of Winter, remains “priority number one” for him. The strike only affects film and TV writing, so he is continuing his work on the novel.
Martin also spoke generally about this newest Hollywood writers’ strike. “No one wanted this–no writer with an ounce of sense, anyway–but the producers and the studios and the networks and the streamers gave us no choice,” Martin said. “The Guild negotiated right up to the final deadline on May 1, but it takes two to tango.”
Martin was a professional Hollywood writer during the movie and TV writers’ strike of 1988, and although he’s not walking the picket line this year like he did all those years ago because he no longer lives in Los Angeles, he said the guild has his “full and complete and unequivocal support.”
“Everyone has seen this storm coming a long way off… and accordingly, studios and streamers and networks have been stockpiling scripts for months. As of May 2, the pens are down and the computer screens have gone dark all across Hollywood, but production will continue so long as there are scripts to shoot,” Martin said. “The proviso being, of course, that those scripts must be shot EXACTLY as they were as of midnight on May 1. Not a word can be changed, cut, added, not a scene can be altered. All that requires writing… and from now until the strike ends, the writers will be on picket lines, not on sets.”
The Hollywood writers’ strike is affecting a number of big projects. Marvel’s Blade movie is pausing production, while Stranger Things Season 5 is also temporarily shutting down. Some TV series, like House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, are continuing to film during the strike, albeit with no writers on set.
This is the first writers’ strike since 2007-2008. Writers have been picketing outside major studio lots in California for companies like Disney, WB Discovery, and Netflix since the strike began on May 2. The writers are seeking higher pay, better residuals, minimum staffing requirements, and for safeguards to be put in place regarding the use of artificial intelligence for script writing.
