Years ago, HBO spent $30 million on a Game of Thrones pilot starring Naomi Watts before cancelling the show and moving ahead with a different project that became House of the Dragon. Now, the first images of the canceled Game of Thrones prequel, Blood Moon, have been revealed by way of hair and makeup designer Flora Moody.
Posting on Instagram, Moody shared images of Watt’s hair and makeup for the show, including early tests all the way up to camera tests with Watts in full costume. The unaired pilot was filmed four years ago, Moody said. The images are mainly focused on Watts, but one of them also includes a wide shot of a set that looks like some kind of great hall.
Robert Greenblatt, the former chairman of HBO parent company WarnerMedia, saw the pilot and said it “wasn’t unwatchable or horrible or anything.” However, it didn’t deliver on what HBO was trying to achieve, he said.
“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,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Game of Thrones fans may recall that the pilot for the original Game of Thrones ran into a number of issues. The pilot featured actress Tamzin Merchant as Daenarys before HBO recast the role with Emilia Clarke. The show would go on to be a smashing success and cement itself as one of the most recognizable HBO series of all time.
While Blood Moon did not get made, HBO greenlit a different prequel, House of the Dragon, which had an enormously successful first season and comes back for Season 2 this year.
There are additional Game of Thrones TV show ideas in various stages of development currently, including a series about Jon Snow. Whether or not any of them ever get made, however, is unknown.
