‘Game of Thrones’ Series Creators Working on ‘Confederate’ for HBO

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss with the Game of Thrones at the Emmys 2016
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss with the ‘Game of Thrones’ cast at the 68th Emmy Awards (Photo Credit: ABC/Image Group LA)

David Benioff and D.W. Weiss are continuing their relationship with HBO, with the network announcing their next original series will be Confederate. The Game of Thrones creators/showrunners will not go into production on Confederate until after the final season of GoT. Benioff and Weiss will be writing, executive producing, and will serve as showrunners on Confederate. Nichelle Tramble Spellman (Justified) and Malcolm Spellman (Empire) are also on board as writers and executive producers.

“As the brilliant Game of Thrones winds down to its final season, we are thrilled to be able to continue our relationship with Dan and David, knowing that any subject they take on will result in a unique and ambitious series,” said Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming. “Their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey. Confederate promises to be no exception, and we are honored to be adding the talented team of Nichelle and Malcolm Spellman to the mix.”


“We have discussed Confederate for years, originally as a concept for a feature film,” stated Benioff and Weiss. “But our experience on Thrones has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO. There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world, and we couldn’t imagine better partners in world-building than Nichelle and Malcolm, who have impressed us for a long time with their wit, their imagination and their Scrabble-playing skills.”

The Plot: Confederate chronicles the events leading to the Third American Civil War. The series takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone – freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.