HBO is teaming up with Mattson Tomlin, an in-demand writer who did unscripted work on Matt Reeve's The Batman and is co-writing the upcoming sequel, The Batman Part II. He also wrote the action comic film adaptation BRZRKR with Keanu Reeves for Netflix and an animated Terminator series that he is also writing for Netflix.
Aegon's Conquest is actually a direct prequel to House of the Dragon (pictured) and tells the story of the bloody and brutal conquest of Westeros by the Targaryen. The story follows the invader Aegon Targaryen, who conquers the continent of Westeros with his sister wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, and their dragons. Aegon successfully united six of the seven kingdoms in just two years, with only Dorne able to successfully resist.
One source described the project as a “back to basics” approach from George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy universe (although, given that the first series was extensive and complex, it's unclear what exactly 'back to basics' means in the context of Thrones). Variety previously reported that Aegon's Conquest was discussed early last year.
Since Game of Thrones wrapped in 2019, many prequels (and one idea for a sequel) have been put into development and some are considered no longer active - although HBO is reluctant to say that one option is completely off the table, as there's always a chances are that a once promising idea will be redeveloped under a different writer.
The effort has produced two greenlit series: House of the Dragon, which begins its second season this summer, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which begins production this year and is based on the Dunk novels and Egg from Martin.
HBO made no comment.
Tomlin has shown that he can handle different genres. He wrote the Netflix crime thriller Project Power with Jamie Foxx and worked as a consultant on the Oscar-nominated animated film The Sea Beast.
