While the Internet continues to debate/hate/ruminate on the end of “Game of Thrones” days after its finale, those involved in the massive HBO series for the better part of the last decade suddenly find themselves with much more flexibility and a schedule with ample free time to, presumably, fill with new projects.
Maisie Williams, Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke aren’t the only ones whose stocks have risen after eight seasons of dragons, betrayals, and battles, though. Essential behind-the-scenes cogs of “Game of Thrones” are suddenly highly sought-after commodities for their respective skills. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the show’s executive producers and showrunners, are about to leap from the imagination-fueled world of one George to another.
And another name will be riding the medieval fantasy high to another swords-and-dragons story many see as having the best chance to fill the huge monocultural hole left behind in “Game of Thrones’s” wake. According to Variety, Bryan Cogman – who rode a reported “encyclopedic knowledge of the world of Westeros” to a regular writer – “has signed on to consult” for Amazon’s upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series. More specifically, according to the report, Cogman will work in conjunction with the writing team of JD Payne and Patrick McKay.
Cogman is best known for writing 11 episodes of “Game of Thrones” during its historic run. The final season episode, titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” – which saw Jon, Dany, Tyrion and Co. contemplating their journeys and allies ahead of the White Walkers’ arrival at Winterfell – was the final episode Cogman wrote for the series.
Even George R.R. Martin referred to Cogman as “the third head of the dragon” (in addition to Benioff and Weiss) on a blog post this week. And, as noted by Vanity Fair, the 11 episodes written by Cogman are the most for anyone involved with “Thrones” save for the showrunners and Martin.
READ MORE: Amazon Teases ‘Lord Of The Rings’ TV Series’ Time Period: “Welcome To The Second Age”
The next, well-timed destination for Cogman: Amazon Studios, where the armory of universally-beloved, original, prestige TV productions is scant compared to competitors HBO, Netflix and Hulu. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Man in the High Castle” have their devoted followings, but they’re no “Game of Thrones,” “Stranger Things” or “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
If done correctly, a “Lord of the Rings” series would do more than close that gap.
As Variety states, few details have been provided on what Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series will be about; no casting announcements have been made, nor when production may begin. What has been confirmed is that at least some of it will take place on the island of Númenor during the Second Age of Middle-Earth, preceding the events of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning films.