‘Aegon’s Conquest’ Puts the First ‘Game of Thrones’ Movie on the Calendar, and the Dragons Have Room to Fly

A ‘Game of Thrones’ movie has been discussed for more than a decade. Talk dates back to 2013, just two years after the series first premiered on HBO, when co-creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss pitched network brass on the idea of the show ending with 3 feature films.

Author George R.R. Martin was not exactly on board at first. In 2015, he explained that he had turned down earlier opportunities because he did not want to cut significant portions of his books, and he worried a film would mostly focus on characters like Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen.

Now, the wait for the first ‘Game of Thrones’ movie has an end date. Warner Bros. announced on Tuesday that ‘Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest’ will hit theaters on June 1, 2029, making it the franchise’s first film spinoff.

Owen Harris, who directed 3 episodes of ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, including the action-packed ‘Trial of Seven’ episode, will direct the film. He has also directed episodes of ‘Black Mirror’ and ‘The Twilight Zone’, and serves as an executive producer on ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’.

The screenplay comes from Beau Willimon, the creator of ‘House of Cards’ and a writer on ‘Andor’, including the acclaimed episode ‘One Way Out’. He also earned Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his screenplay for ‘The Ides of March’, and he wrote ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.

Willimon’s involvement was first reported in March by Page Six Hollywood, and Warner Bros. confirmed the title and his attachment at its CinemaCon presentation in April. No cast has been revealed, and there is no production start date yet.

As the title suggests, the film centers on Aegon I Targaryen, the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and founder of the Targaryen dynasty. It is based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book ‘Fire & Blood’, which is also the source for ‘House of the Dragon’.

Aegon, alongside his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys, conquered 6 of the 7 kingdoms with the help of 3 legendary dragons: Balerion, Vhagar and Meraxes. Dorne remained independent.

Aegon has never appeared in either of the live-action prequels, so this would be the first time he is depicted on screen. Martin’s own comments to The Hollywood Reporter reportedly describe the project as an epic on the scale of ‘Dune’.

The release date continues HBO’s mission of giving viewers at least one ‘Game of Thrones’ project a year. ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, which earned an Outstanding Drama Series nomination at the 2026 Emmys, returns for a second season in 2027, and ‘House of the Dragon’ concludes with its fourth season in 2028.

That leaves 2029 for the film. ‘House of the Dragon’ released its third season this year, and Warner Bros. has now built out a clear runway for the franchise.

There is not a lot dated for 2029 by the major studios, and ‘Aegon’s Conquest’ is the first to arrive on the first weekend of June. The only titled films hard-dated that year are Disney/Pixar’s ‘Coco 2’ on November 21 and Disney/20th’s ‘Avatar 4’ on December 21.

That should give the dragons plenty of room. It also adds to the buzz around a movie built on a franchise that earned 59 Emmys across 8 seasons.

The announcement comes as Warner Bros. is being taken over by Paramount. Paramount will inherit at least 40 Warner Bros. theatrical releases on the calendar between October 2 this year and 2029.

When the project was first reported, Page Six noted that it was unclear whether the film would be made given the pending sale. At the same time, ‘Game of Thrones’ is one of the company’s crown jewels, and Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged to release 30 films theatrically each year once the two companies combine.

A separate TV treatment for the Aegon story from writer Mattson Tomlin, once in the works, is presumed not to be moving forward.

With a director, writer and release date locked in, the next big question is casting. Fans will be watching for who plays Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys, and when production begins.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.