HBO has given a pilot order to a series set thousands of years before the hit show with Kick-Ass and Kingsman screenwriter Jane Goldman as showrunner

HBO has given an official pilot order to their first Game of Thrones prequel series.

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The as-yet-untitled show will be co-created by original author George RR Martin and Jane Goldman who will act as showrunner. Goldman’s screenwriting credits include Kick-Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The series will be set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones and “will chronicle the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour”. HBO has released the following logline: “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.”

Martin had already revealed that any HBO spin-offs would be prequels but the news acts as confirmation of the first of a number of potential new shows set in the same universe. Last May, the network hired a number of writers to work on them, including Goldman herself and Brian Helgeland, who wrote the screenplay for LA Confidential.

Last year, Goldman hinted that her series will include humor and gore. “Those are things I love, and things I like to do,” shetold Digital Spy. “It would be remiss of me not to put them in.”

HBO’s progamming president, Casey Bloys, has teased that there will be between “zero to five” spin-off projects that make it to the small screen. He also revealed that the first show will not air until at least a year after the main show ends.

The final season will air in 2019 with Bloys referring to it as “six one-hour movies”. He told Entertainment Weekly: “The show has proven that TV is every bit as impressive and in many cases more so, than film. What they’re doing is monumental.”

Star Emilia Clarke recently revealed that she has already shot her final scene as Daenerys Targaryen. “It fucked me up,” she told Vanity Fair. “Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavor in someone’s mouth of what Daenerys is …”

In April, Martin also revealed that he will be publishing an “imaginary history” of the Targaryen family in November.