George RR Martin: “The strike is likely to be long and bitter”

On his blog, the author of Game of Thrones evokes the double strike of Hollywood and gives news of season 2 of House of the Dragon.

It has now been a little over 10 days since the actors joined the writers in their strike movement, “the most important I have known” ensures George RR Martin. At 74, the author of Game Of Thrones is amazed by the extent of the mobilization.

“We can’t be sure of anything at the moment, but I have this bad feeling that the strike is going to be long and bitter. It could go as far as 1985, although I hope not”he wrote on his blog last week.

Last May, when the screenwriters had just ceased work, the writer had already expressed his support for them: “I’m not in Los Angeles, so I can’t walk the picket line like I did in 1988, but I will publicly declare my full, complete and unequivocal support for my colleagues.”

“These strikes aren’t really about ‘star writers’ or producers, most of them are doing just fine. We go on strike for authors at the start of their career, students who hope to make a place for themselves, the actor who has 4 lines, and then the guy who is at his first job and dreams of creating his own show one day, as was the case in the 80s”he added.

Regarding his projects, the author announced that his agreement with HBO had been suspended at the beginning of June, but that he still had “lots to do”. In particular, the author works on Winds of Winterthe sixth volume of the saga The iron Throne. He writes on it “almost every day. Writing, rewriting, and some more writing. I am not progressing as fast as I would like…certainly not as fast as YOU would like…but I am progressing nonetheless. It keeps me out of trouble”he explains.

Finally, George RR Martin reported on house of the dragon season 2. The spin-off of Game Of Thrones is one of the few projects to slip through the cracks. “All the scripts were done months before the writers’ strike. Nothing has changed since, as far as I know”.

Regarding the filming, another stroke of luck: “The series is mainly filmed in London (a bit in Wales in Spain, and a few other places), which is why the series can continue. The actors are members of the UK Equity union, not SAG-AFTRA. Although Equity supports its American cousins, British laws prohibit it from striking. If the actors stop working, they will have no protection. They could be prosecuted”concluded the writer.

house of the dragon season 2 likely won’t premiere until 2024 on HBO Max. Next to Emma d’Arcy, Matt Smith And Olivia Cooke, we will find new faces: Gayle Rankin (GLOW), Freddie Fox (Slow Horses), Simon Russell Beale (Penny Dreadful) And Abubakar Salim (Raised by Wolves).