Game of Thrones’ Scrapped Spin-Off Gets Surprising First Look 5 Years Later

HBO’s cancelled Game of Thrones spin-off on The Long Night has received a surprising first look five years after its scrapping.

As reported by GamesRadar, hair and makeup designer Flora Moody posted a handful of photos to Instagram showing actress Naomi Watts in costume and on set. The prequel series, set thousands of years before Game of Thrones and focusing on the Age of Heroes’ apocalypse, was cancelled after the pilot didn’t live up to the original series’ grandeur.

Though Moody’s post focuses on Watts’ look, it also offers a brief glimpse at one of the sets as she stands in costume against a very Game of Thrones background. A stone carving behind Watts shows a horse and chariot with men killing what looks to be a lion in a grand hall of some kind.

First look at Naomi Watts in the pilot episode of HBO’s cancelled ‘BLOOD MOON’ #GameOfThrones prequel series.

The pilot reportedly revolved around a wedding between a Stark and a Casterly, taking place at Casterly Rock. pic.twitter.com/4htFRbSJsg

— westerosies (@westerosies) February 2, 2024

Though Moody’s post is the first look at The Long Night spin-off, it could also be the last. The show was cancelled in 2019, before House of the Dragon was even confirmed for HBO.

“It wasn’t unwatchable or horrible or anything,” said former WarnerMedia chairman Robert Greenblatt in 2022. “It was very well produced and looked extraordinary. But it didn’t take me to the same place as the original series. It didn’t have that depth and richness that the original series’ pilot did.”

Its cast also included Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Alex Sharp, and Toby Regbo. The pilot episode alone, directed by S.J. Clarkson, cost HBO an eye watering $30 million.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.