HBO's Game Of Thrones Prequel Adds 8 To Cast And Finds A Director

HBO's Game of Thrones prequel TV show still doesn't have a proper name, but its cast is getting bigger. The show, which will star Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse in leading roles, has added eight more names to its roster of stars.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the newly revealed cast includes Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX), Toby Regbo (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Denise Gough (Angels in America), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror), Jamie Campbell Bower (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), and Alex Sharp (To the Bone). Much like everything else about the series, all character details are a tightly held secret.

What we do know is that the new show is set long before the events of Game of Thrones. A logline, per THR, reads "Only one thing is for sure: From the horrifying secrets of Westeros' history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend--it's not the story we think we know."

George R.R. Martin, who wrote the novels the franchise is based on, teased on his blog that the prequel would be called The Long Night. He later noted that HBO says a name has not been given to the series. In Game of Thrones lore, the Long Night refers to a time roughly 8,000 years before the events of the series during the Age of Heroes. It's during this time that the White Walkers make their first appearance in Westeros in the middle of a particularly brutal winter.

Directing the pilot episode for the series will be SJ Clarkson, who is also signed on to helm the next Star Trek film. Clarkson has an impressive TV resume, that includes directing episodes of Orange Is the New Black, Jessica Jones, Bates Motel, and Dexter, among others.

Jane Goldman, who wrote the pilot script and collaborated with Martin on the story, will serve as showrunner on the prequel. A production start date has yet to be revealed, though THR says more casting announcements should be announced at a later date. The final season of Game of Thrones will premiere in April.