The first Game of Thrones might have centered around that whole “Winter Is Coming” thing, but George R.R. Martin’s next TV series will be about the longest winter of all.
HBO has announced the rest of the cast for the still-unnamed prequel with several new actors, including Star Wars newcomer Naomi Ackie, and revealed that Marvel-Netflix director S.J. Clarkson will be directing the pilot.
As reported in Variety, Ackie is joining the previously-announced Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse on HBO’s Thrones prequel, which is set during the Age of Heroes and the beginning of the Long Night.
The rest of the cast includes Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Denise Gough (Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt), Jamie Campbell Bower and Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Sheila Atim (Harlots), and Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties).
In addition, Clarkson has been tapped to direct the pilot episode, and will also serve as executive producer. Clarkson directed episodes for Netflix’s The Defenders and Jessica Jones, and was set to direct the next film in the rebooted Star Trek series (though that project is now on hold).
The Game of Thrones prequel is being overseen by Martin and co-showrunner Jane Goldman. According to Watchers on the Wall, the pilot episode (under the working title “The Long Night”) will be filmed later this year in the Canary Islands near Spain, which was scouted as a possible filming location for Game of Thrones but didn’t end up getting used. Afterward, it’s set to return to Belfast in the fall, where much of the original series has been filmed.