'Game of Thrones' creators new 'Confederate' is controversial
Social-media reaction to the planned alternate-history show in which slavery lives on is not exactly "Thrones"-level enthusiastic.
"Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are moving from one HBO fantasy world to another.
When "Thrones" ends, the two will write and executive-produce "Confederate," a series about an alternate-history timeline where the American South's secession was successful.
"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 HBO programming president Casey Bloys on Wednesday. "Their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey."
In the show, slavery remains legal in the Confederate States of America.
"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," HBO said in a press release.
"We have discussed 'Confederate' for years, originally as a concept for a feature film," Benioff and Weiss said in the release. "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 (producers) Nichelle and Malcolm (Spellman), who have impressed us for a long time with their wit, their imagination and their Scrabble-playing skills."
Reaction on social media was wary.
Amazon's "Man in the High Castle," based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, also has an alternative-history premise, where World War II was won by the Axis Powers and Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan rule the United States. That similarity didn't go unnoticed.
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