After conquering television with 59 Emmy wins across eight seasons, Game of Thrones is setting its sights on Oscar gold.
Warner Bros. confirmed during the studio’s CinemaCon presentation Tuesday evening that the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated Beau Willimon has been tapped to write the screenplay for Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest.
Although official details are scarce, here’s everything we know about the untitled film.
The Backstory
News of Willimon’s involvement was first reported in March by the California Post‘s Page Six Hollywood. The big-screen push comes amid an ongoing post-Thrones expansion of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy universe. HBO’s House of the Dragon has already demonstrated sustained audience appetite for Targaryen lore, while A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues to broaden the franchise’s footprint on television.
Not every spinoff has moved forward, however. In 2022, HBO and Kit Harington were developing a Jon Snow sequel series that would have continued the story of his brooding Northern hero. But in 2024, Harington said the project was “firmly on the shelf,” effectively halting that continuation.
The Plot
According to a recent cover story on Martin in The Hollywood Reporter, the project is envisioned as a “Dune-sized” epic centered on Aegon I Targaryen and his dragon-powered conquest of Westeros. That would make the film a prequel to all the previous Game of Thrones series. Known as Aegon the Conqueror, he unified six of the seven kingdoms, founded King’s Landing, built the Red Keep, and forged the Iron Throne from the swords of his vanquished enemies. A statue of Aegon can be seen in the Targaryen throne room in House of the Dragon.
Awards prospects
Based on its pedigree, the film could have lofty Oscar aspirations. As noted above, HBO’s original Game of Thrones earned 59 Emmys in 159 nominations across eight seasons, including four wins for Best Drama Series. The first spinoff, House of the Dragon, received an Emmy nomination for Best Drama Series in its first season, and HBO is currently pushing A Knight of Seven Kingdoms for the upcoming 2026 Emmys.
Willimon, meanwhile, earned Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Best Screenplay nominations for his 2011 film The Ides of March. He received five nominations for writing and producing House of Cards and another Emmy nod for writing on the first season of Andor. He also served as an executive producer and writer on Season 2 of Severance.
The Targaryen throne room in ‘House of the Dragon’HBORelease date
This is where things get more complicated. At CinemaCon, Aegon’s Conquest was listed coming in “2027 and beyond.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has also been working on a rival Aegon-themed project, whose status is unknown at this point. Assuming everything falls into place, and the movie script clears the development process and survives the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, we could be firmly in the “beyond” category before the film hits theaters.
This story was originally published on March 3 and updated on April 15 with new details from CinemaCon.
