David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners for HBO’s massive hit Game of Thrones, have plans for the next series they want to helm for HBO — an alternate history series titled Confederacy, which would explore what would have happened if the South had successfully seceded from the Union and slavery still existed.
The story would be set during what the authors call the Third American Civil War, with characters from the North and the South. One group depicted would be a slave-holding corporation and the families under their thumbs.
The creators originally envisioned the idea as a feature film, but after their experience with HBO, they became convinced television was their destination. They released a statement reading:
“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.”
President of HBO Programming, Casey Bloys said, “As the brilliant show 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. Their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey.”
If the Thrones creators are successful, it won’t be the first time in recent years an alternate history series has done well; developed and produced by Frank Spotnitz, The Man in the High Castle, which is based on a United States circa 1962 in which the Nazis won World War II and took over America along with the Japanese, became Amazon Prime Instant Video’s most-streamed original program.