As "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" piques the interest of "Game of Thrones" fans, "Bloodmoon" could have been another franchise's prequel that attracted a significant following. It would have focused on the dreaded Long Night and the rise of the White Walkers, a terrifying force in "Game of Thrones." However, HBO deemed it insufficient. The network ordered a pilot exploring the Age of Heroes, set thousands of years before the events of "Game of Thrones," starring Naomi Watts.
Robert Greenblatt, WarnerMedia's former chairman, previously told The Hollywood Reporter, "It wasn't unwatchable or horrible or anything." He continued, "It was very well produced and looked extraordinary. But it didn't take me to the same place as the original series. It didn't have that depth and richness that the original series' pilot did."
Moreover, "Bloodmoon" posed a creative challenge. Firstly, George R.R. Martin, the creator of the lore, wrote less about this era, leaving writers to develop the rest of the story. Furthermore, the author himself acknowledged that the project was difficult. He previously told THR, "'Bloodmoon' was a very difficult assignment. We're dealing with a much more primitive people. There were no dragons yet. A lot of the pilot revolved around a wedding of a Southern house to a Northern house, and it got into the whole history of the White Walkers."
In Watts' starrer "Bloodmoon," Jane Goldman served as the creator, for which HBO shelled out $30 million on the pilot.
