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“Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are staying at HBO for their next project — which is not connected to the channel’s efforts to develop “Thrones” spinoffs or prequels



Benioff and Weiss are creating a series called “Confederate” for HBO. It takes place in an alternate timeline where, to quote the network press release, “the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution.”

The duo will write and executive produce the project along with Nichelle Trimble Spellman (“The Good Wife,” “Justified”) and Malcolm Spellman (“Empire”). “Confederate” probably won’t be on the air before 2019, as production isn’t set to begin until after the final season of “Game of Thrones.”

The story will follow characters in both the Union and Confederate states, which are separated by the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone, and events leading up to what Benioff and Weiss are calling the Third American Civil War (which means there was also a second one at some point).

“Our experience on ‘Thrones’ has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO,” Benioff and Weiss say in a statement. “There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world, and we couldn’t imagine better partners in world-building than Nichelle and Malcolm.”