'Game of Thrones' Planned Prequel Series With Naomi Watts No Longer Happening at HBO

Although the final season of Game of Thrones was hardly a fan-favorite (to put it nicely), diehard fans couldn't deny their excitement for the next Westeros story on the TV horizon. It was announced about one year ago that Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts would star in the first ordered prequel pilot, set to take place thousands of years prior to the events of Thrones. Well, although filming had reportedly begun, it looks like the project is no more.

Deadline reports this afternoon that HBO has cancelled this prequel, noting that, "showrunner [Jane] Goldman has been emailing the cast and crew of the project to tell them that the pilot is dead, we hear."

While the official title of the prequel series hadn't been confirmed, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin seemed very confident in the project, even accidentally revealing what he believed was the show's name, The Long Night. Apart from Watts, multiple actors had been announced in the cast, including Miranda Richardson, Josh Whitehouse, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

We'll be waiting for Martin and/or HBO to make an official statement about the unfortunate news.