Kit Harington confirms there will be no Jon Snow "Game of Thrones" spinoff

"It's firmly on the shelf," the former Winterfellian told Screen Rant in a new interview

Published April 10, 2024 4:24PM (EDT)

Kit Harington attends the Apple Original Series "Extrapolations" red carpet premiere event at Hammer Museum on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Kit Harington attends the Apple Original Series "Extrapolations" red carpet premiere event at Hammer Museum on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/GA/2023 Getty Images and Penske Media)
Kit Harington attends the Apple Original Series "Extrapolations" red carpet premiere event at Hammer Museum on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Kit Harington attends the Apple Original Series "Extrapolations" red carpet premiere event at Hammer Museum on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/GA/2023 Getty Images and Penske Media)

Winter, unfortunately, is not coming.

In a new interview with Screen Rant, actor Kit Harington shared that the spinoff series based on his "Game of Thrones" character, Jon Snow, is no longer in active development at HBO.

"I hadn't really ever spoken about it, because it was in development," Harington said during a sit-down to promote his upcoming film, "Blood for Dust."

"I didn't want it leaked out that it was being developed, and I didn't want the thing to happen where people kind of start theorizing, getting either excited about it or hating the idea of it, when it may never happen. Because in development, you look at every angle, and you see whether it's worth it," he said.

He continued: "And currently, it's not. Currently, it's off the table, because we all couldn't find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough. So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It's firmly on the shelf."

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It was announced in June of 2022 that Harington was slated to reprise his Emmy-nominated role as Snow, presumably tracing his trajectory post-retreating beyond the Wall after slaying the tyrannical queen, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). Clarke in 2022 shared with the BBC that the spinoff was Harington's idea, saying, "It's been created by Kit as far as I can understand, so he's in it from the ground up. So what you will be watching, hopefully, if it happens, is certified by Kit Harington."

"Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us," George R. R. Martin, author of the books on which the wildly popular series is based, wrote in a blog post at the time. "I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet … but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific."

Though a Snow sequel will not be taking place, there are several other GOT-adjacent series set to premiere. "House of the Dragon," a prequel that details the reign of House Targaryen 172 years before the Mad King's overthrow and the birth of Daenerys, will see its hotly anticipated second season this June. Martin will write and serve as executive producer on a separate prequel, "Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight," which will center on a story about a knight and his squire and will star Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell.

A logline obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reads: "A century before the events of 'Game of Thrones,' two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros … a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Claffey), and his diminutive squire, Egg (Ansell). Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”


By Gabriella Ferrigine

Gabriella Ferrigine is a former staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Emilia Clarke Game Of Thrones George R.r. Martin House Of The Dragon Jon Snow Kit Harington