Brian Helgeland is a popular name in the industry for his works in films like Mystic River and L.A. Confidential. The latter even blessed him with an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The renowned screenwriter and producer was near to having his Game of Thrones spin-off series. However, the Ten Thousand Ships series never got a green light from HBO.
The idea of Brian Helgeland’s Ten Thousand Ships was planned to be based on the mythological story of Moses. The structure and tonality of the story would have been very different from the main Game of Thrones series. Although Helgeland has stated that his script is still there and HBO can pick it if they want, it is highly unlikely due to the present political milieu of the world.
What was Brian Helgeland’s planned Game of Thrones spin-off series about?
After the extremely underwhelming conclusion of Game of Thrones in 2019, it was reported that a spin-off series based on Queen Nymeria is in the works. This was the Ten Thousand Ships series by the Oscar winner Brian Helgeland. The story was highly based on the mythology of The Exodus with Nymeria’s role inspired by the Prophet.
Helgeland spilled more beans on the scrapped series in an interview with Inverse. He explained that Queen Nymeria’s role in the series was based on Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea- “They end up having to leave and find a new home like the Israelites leaving Egypt”.
“It came out great, but I think they felt the period of my show was too far removed from the pillars of the original. That’s why it hasn’t been picked up yet, but nothing is ever dead. My script was based on Queen Nymeria and this little blurb about her that was in a Westeros encyclopedia. Essentially, it was the story of Moses but swapping him out for Nymeria.”
As per Fandom, Nymeria’s country got ruined, and her people were forced to live on the water on 10,000 ships before they finally landed on Dorne. Brian Helgeland believed that the spin-off may have looked “far removed from the pillars” of the OG series. Although it sounds interesting, it is unlikely to be made and spark any controversy in the present Israel-Palestine conflict scenario.
Recently the docu-series Testament: The Story of Moses released by Netflix also divided netizens worldwide. The story of The Exodus is a highly disputed subject to most historians and scholars. According to Unilad, the show being released as a documentary was not well received by fans.
Is Brian Helgeland still hopeful for HBO to pick up his Ten Thousand Ships series?
Brian Helgeland was so hopeful about the potential project that he also met the GoT creator, George R.R. Martin, with the project, which the latter signed off on. Moving on in the interview, the A Knight’s Tale director also compared his scrapped Game of Thrones project to Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films and Homer’s Greek epic poem Odyssey.
Sparking a flame of buzz among the fans, the 63-year-old screenwriter asserted that the script is still there if HBO wants to pick it up someday to show the story of Queen Nymeria.
“It was kind of like Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films mixed with The Odyssey. In a way, Nymeria is Odysseus, but instead of a 12-person crew, she’s responsible for every citizen in this floating city-state. My work is still there if HBO wants to pick it up. I enjoyed my time developing it, and you just never know.”
To date, we have only heard the references to Nymeria in the mainline show. Arya Stark, who loved the stories about brave warrior queens named her direwolf Nymeria. On the other hand, Oberyn Martell, played by Pedro Pascal was also a descendant of the queen of the Rhoynar.
We have only got one spin-off series to Game of Thrones yet, the critically acclaimed House of the Dragon. While the prequel series on House Targaryen is waiting to release its second season this year, another spin-off series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is also in development.
Game of Thrones can be streamed on Max. House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on Max on June 16, 2024.
