The two creators of the hit series Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, could have earned money from the spin-off “House of the Dragon.” As they recounted, however, they rejected the payment – for a very simple reason.
Benioff and Weiss spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about their major upcoming sci-fi project “3 Body Problem,” which will be released on Netflix later this year.
In this context, they mentioned that they actually could have earned from the prequel series House of the Dragon, which tells the events prior to “Game of Thrones,” but they declined the offer.
House of the Dragon Was Not Worth the Burden
Benioff and Weiss have a contractual right to be listed as producers in all “Game of Thrones” spin-offs. It doesn’t matter whether they are actually involved in the project or not.
This means that being credited translates to easy money for them, which they wouldn’t even have to do anything for.
Nevertheless, they declined the offer and did not want to be credited in the spin-off House of the Dragon, a project they were not involved in.
“HBO was a bit confused,” Benioff explained to The Hollywood Reporter. Even the network’s lawyer wanted them to accept the money: “I remember your lawyer saying, ‘But it’s just money, we’ll just pay you.’ “
Weiss then explained why the creators of “Game of Thrones” decided against the enticing offer:
I don’t believe that there is such a thing as money without effort.
If our name is on it, especially when we are completely detached and uninvolved, the burden that would come with this uninvolved approach – whether it leads to success or failure or anything in between – did not seem worth it to us.
D.B. Weiss, Source: The Hollywood Reporter
So they did not want to undertake any strain for a series they were in no way involved in – not even if they would have been paid for it.
For more about the spin-off House of the Dragon, you can check out our colleagues at Moviepilot: “Must be even harder”: The biggest shocking moment from House of the Dragon episode 1 was shown to many women, and they found it not shocking enough
Benioff and Weiss not only wanted to be omitted from the credits of the spin-off, but have also not watched House of the Dragon to this day. Weiss recently watched Game of Thrones with his family, while Benioff hasn’t seen a single episode of his series since the finale.
If you are fans of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, you might be interested in this list: 11 Series Like Game of Thrones
