Martin made this revelation during a recent interview with Penguin Random House while he was promoting his new book The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty. The author and scriptwriter stated, “Some of you may know that I occasionally wrote other books that were not part of Westeros or that [story]. And one of them that I wrote way back in 1978 was a short story about a dragon, an ice dragon, and it’s called The Ice Dragon. Just a short story, as I said. It’s primarily a kid’s story, but we are going to make that [into a movie]. Warner Bros. Animation has purchased the rights to it, and we’re going to expand it to a fully animated film… a theatrical film, we hope, to be released in motion a motion picture palace near you, and David Anthony Durham will be writing the screenplay. And he better do a good job!” While Martin wrote The Ice Dragon in 1978, the short story wasn’t published until 1980. The fantasy book follows a young girl named Adara who was born during the worst winter her people ever remembered. Unfortunately, Adara’s mother died while giving birth to her and the little girl grows up cold and emotionless. Over the years, Adara befriends a fearsome ice dragon. When she was four, she touched the dragon. A year later, at the age of five, Adara rode the ice dragon for the first time. When Adara was seven, fire dragons and their riders swooped in from the north and attacked Adara and her family. With the help of the ice dragon, Adara defeated the dragons and saved her loved ones. The ice dragon disappeared and Adara finally begins to behave like other girls her age. Martin is best known for his A Song of Ice and Fire novels which spawned the critically and commercially acclaimed HBO TV series Game of Thrones. Recently, HBO aired the first season of a prequel series titled House of the Dragon. It is based on a historical novel of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire by Martin titled Fire & Blood and has since been renewed for a second season. HBO is also reportedly working on more spinoffs, including one based on Jon Snow following the events of Game of Thrones. While The Ice Dragon features a dragon and a long freezing winter, it doesn’t exist in the same world as Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. In fact, Martin has stated in the past that A Song of Ice and Fire didn’t exist when he wrote The Ice Dragon. Apart from Martin’s announcement, there is no other information available on the planned animated film. However, as development progresses, more details should surface, including the director and the actors who will portray the characters. By the way, House of the Dragon’s second season won’t start filming until 2023. As a result, there is little chance it will premiere before 2024. That being said, Martin recently revealed that the next installment in his A Song of Ice and Fire series titled Winds of Winter is 75% complete. If nothing else, this news will console fans who have been waiting 11 years for the book.
