On the eve of Comic-Con and the TCA press tour right around the corner HBO made a surprise announcement Wednesday afternoon. Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming, revealed that “Game of Thrones” creators/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will return to HBO with their new original series “Confederate.”
According to an HBO press release, “‘Confederate’ chronicles the events leading to the Third American Civil War. The series takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone — freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.”
Benioff and Weiss are executive producers on the series, and the writers will be Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“Justified,” “The Good Wife”) and Malcolm Spellman (“Empire,” the forthcoming “Foxy Brown”). Carolyn Strauss (“Game of Thrones”) and Bernadette Caulfield (“Game of Thrones,” “Big Love”) will also join as executive producers.
In the same statement, Bloys remarked, “As the brilliant ‘Game of Thrones’ winds down to its final season, we are thrilled to be able to continue our relationship with Dan and David, knowing that any subject they take on will result in a unique and ambitious series. Their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey. ‘Confederate; promises to be no exception, and we are honored to be adding the talented team of Nichelle and Malcolm Spellman to the mix.”
Benioff and Weiss added, “We have discussed ‘Confederate’ for years, originally as a concept for a feature film but our experience on ‘Thrones’ has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO. There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world, and we couldn’t imagine better partners in world-building than Nichelle and Malcolm, who have impressed us for a long time with their wit, their imagination and their Scrabble-playing skills.”
The reaction online to the announcement was almost uniformly negative.
Pretty dope that HBO would make Insecure then almost immediately make Confederate! Love that vision HBO!
— Yassir Lester (@Yassir_Lester) July 19, 2017
The villains of World War II are pretty straightforward. Ppl in the SC Confederate museum tried to tell me the CSA wasn’t racist. https://t.co/YslTvYdk7I
— jelani cobb (@jelani9) July 19, 2017
“Have you ever thought what life would be like if the South had won?”
*looks at all the Confederate flags north of the Mason-Dixon*
Naaah.— Spicey Bushes. (@thewayoftheid) July 19, 2017
The fandom for the new #HBO show #Confederate is gonna be Tragic. Can you imagine how much harmful imagery they’re gonna produce? pic.twitter.com/P9xbxfQQtv
— Zora Neale Hustlin’ (@MarsinCharge) July 19, 2017
“Confederate…takes place in an alternative timeline…in which slavery is legal” – Yeah, how about…no. https://t.co/CKM2Ar16Rc
— Kno (@Kno) July 19, 2017
They have two black writers joining but Benioff and Weiss are the exec producers. Also the idea is messy whoever writes it. No thanks.
— Ira Madison III (@ira) July 19, 2017
If HBO wants a series about the Civil War so bad, here’s an idea – PICK UP UNDERGROUND.
— ReBecca Theodore (@FilmFatale_NYC) July 19, 2017
There were some voices willing to give the series a shot, however.
Confederate can be made. And people can think it’s a lousy premise. It’s fine.
— roxane gay (@rgay) July 19, 2017
The point isn’t endorsing, it’s understanding and respecting. I’m not confident they will understand and respect black POV on confed.
— Citizen Chris (@csilverandgold) July 19, 2017
