From The Lion King roaring back in photorealistic fur to Mean Girls returning as a musical, and a movie based on the musical, Hollywood seems determined to revisit every locker, jungle, and galaxy it has ever imagined. Even Harry Potter is being recast for a decade-long television series, and Shrek 5 is officially on the horizon. While nostalgia has its charm, Clint Eastwood recently voiced his concerns, stating, “Do something new or stay at home,” wistfully recalling a time “when everyone has a new idea.” He is clearly ready to trade remakes for risks, and he is not the only one.

George R. R. Martin, sage of dragons and delays, has also voiced similar disdain for the industry’s creative recycling bin.

During a recent conversation with author Joe Abercrombie at The Kimo Theatre, George R. R. Martin offered candid insights into Hollywood’s current approach to literary adaptations. The creator of A Song of Ice and Fire expressed discomfort with the industry’s tendency to assign other writers to adapt his work, often with the creative freedom to “make it their own.” Martin noted, with clear frustration, that this model increasingly favors transformation over preservation, and he considers himself part of a dwindling minority that disagrees.

George R.R. Martin used The Great Gatsby as an example, voicing dismay over the idea of empowering a writer to reshape such a classic. “I do not want anyone to make The Great Gatsby their own,” he stated pointedly, highlighting the growing disconnect between original authors and those adapting their material. The comment arrived mere days after Clint Eastwood’s own criticism of remake culture, making Martin the latest to push back against Hollywood’s reinvention machine.

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This is not the first time George R. R. Martin has addressed the issue, and it is unlikely to be the last given his past experiences with adaptations of his work.

George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones adaptation famously veered off the beaten path, especially in later seasons when the show outran the books. Characters took unexpected detours, plotlines went off-script, and fans sometimes felt like they were watching a very expensive improv. In contrast, House of the Dragon has been praised for sticking closely to Martin’s original material, following the dragons’ family drama with scriptural devotion. Even The Witcher writers reportedly disliked their source, but Martin and Neil Gaiman remain unforgiving critics of unfaithful adaptations.

Fans of fidelity can breathe easier with House of the Dragon, which respects the author’s vision like a knight guarding the realm. It is a rare case of Hollywood following the script to the letter, though one suspects dragons are better at breathing fire than rewriting scenes. If only more shows could take a page from this book, or at least avoid turning epics into soap operas.

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