Game Of Thrones may be approaching the final stretch of its epic saga, but it sounds like there’s plenty more to come from the Starks and Lannisters, with HBO confirming that there are a number of spin-offs in the works. And better still, original author George RR Martin is said to be involved…

The rumour mill has long been hyping up the prospect of possible GOT movie and TV side-projects, but this is the first time any official news has come out of HBO, with Martin confirmed to be working up some story ideas with a team of writers. A studio spokesperson commented: “We’ll take as much or as little time as the writers need and, as with all our development, we will evaluate what we have when the scripts are in.”

Sounds like there’s plenty more blood to be spilled in Westeros then, although current show heads Dan Weiss and David Benioff won’t be wielding the knife. “I’m looking forward to watching it,” said Benioff when recently asked about the chance of a spin-off. “I think it’ll be great, but I think it’s better for them to get new blood in with new visions.”

In the meantime, there’s not long to wait before Jon Snow, Daenerys and friends return to our screens for the seventh season of the new show on July 16, as the battle for Kings Landing begins to heat up. Get it in the diary…

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