‘Game of Thrones‘ showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have just locked in their next project, an original series based on an alternate reality where the southern states maintained their independence from the Union after the American Civil War.
Called ‘Confederate‘, it will chronicle the events leading to “the Third American Civil War”, presumably by first explaining that there was a second Civil War and just what the hell happened in it.
Benioff and Weiss will write and create the series, and also serve as showrunners. They’ve also tapped executive producer and writer Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman, as well as two current ‘Game of Thrones’ executive producers, Carolyn Strauss and Bernadette Caulfield.
“We have discussed Confederate for years, originally as a concept for a feature film,” the pair said in a joint statement. “But our experiences on Thrones has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas that 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.”
Production on the series won’t start until ‘Game of Thrones’ wraps up in 2018 (*sob*).
And look – Weiss and Benioff have proven themselves tenfold to create some of the best television in history, but they haven’t always dealt with sensitive issues all that well. Remember the Season 3 finale, where Daenerys is lifted by former slaves crying out “Mhysa” (mother)?
Photo: Taylor Hill / Getty.
