Game of Thrones is a juggernaut of a TV series. Not only is it incredibly popular on HBO, but home video sales are a massive money-maker for the network and the fandom surrounding the series has reached massive proportions. The series is, of course, based on author George R.R. Martin’s sprawling book series A Song of Ice and Fire, and while the production value of the HBO adaptation is impressive, fans have often wondered what Game of Thrones would look like on the big screen.

According to Martin, the prospect of a Game of Thrones movie is actually in active discussion, though it appears to be very, very early in the process so nothing’s quite firmed up. Read his full comments after the jump, which include his plan for how the TV show (hopefully) won’t catch up to his book series.

While speaking with THR, Martin said the prospect of a Game of Thrones movie is being actively discussed:

“It all depends on how long the main series runs. Do we run for seven years? Do we run for eight? Do we run for 10? The books get bigger and bigger [in scope]. It might need a feature to tie things up, something with a feature budget, like $100 million for two hours. Those dragons get real big, you know.”

The author also conceded that his series of Song of Ice and Fire prequel novellas Tales of Dunk and Egg could serve as the inspiration for the feature:

“They could be the basis for [a film]. I have written these three stories, and I have about a dozen more.”

Clearly a Game of Thrones movie isn’t in active development just yet, but HBO will no doubt want to reap the benefits of the series once the show comes to an end; a feature film could be just the way to go out with a (very lucrative) bang in addition to a sure-to-be glorious Blu-ray box set. It’s also not out of character for HBO, which made two Sex and the City movies and is currently in production on an Entourage movie.

As for the end of the series, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss recently said that they envision Game of Thrones likely coming to an end with season seven or eight, which puts the finale airing in 2017 or 2018 if they stick to their current production schedule. Considering that Martin still has two final Game of Thrones novels to publish and he’s known for, um, taking his time, that’s not too far off.

The issue of the TV show coming to an end before Martin publishes the final novel, A Dream of Spring, is not new, but now that Benioff and Weiss are seriously thinking about the endgame, it’s becoming a genuine threat. Martin is all too aware of the problem, but in an extensive and fascinating interview with Vanity Fair, he explained his hope that the book series will finish first:

“I’m hopeful that I cannot let them catch up with me. The season that’s about to debut covers the second half of the third book. The third book [A Storm of Swords] was so long that it had to be split into two. But there are two more books beyond that, A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons. A Dance With Dragons is itself a book that’s as big as A Storm of Swords. So there’s potentially three more seasons there, between Feast and Dance, if they split into two the way they did [with Storms]. Now, Feast and Dance take place simultaneously. So you can’t do Feast and then Dance the way I did. You can combine them and do it chronologically. And it’s my hope that they’ll do it that way and then, long before they catch up with me, I’ll have published The Winds of Winter, which’ll give me another couple years. It might be tight on the last book, A Dream of Spring, as they juggernaut forward.”

Though that sounds like a nice plan, it doesn’t seem to jibe with Benioff and Weiss’ seven or eight-season cap. Regardless, in the near future we have season four to look forward to, which premieres on HBO Sunday, April 6th.