Watch Game of Thrones Online

Two new set photos

Source: http://winter-is-coming.net/2010/03/two-new-set-photos/

Another writer added to first season

A “Battlestar”-”Buffy”-”Game of Thrones” connection? Be still my nerd heart!

HBO has confirmed that Jane Espenson, a “Caprica” executive producer who has also penned scripts for “Dollhouse,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Buffy” and a host of other cool shows, is one of the writers for the TV adaptation of “Game of Thrones,” which was recently greenlit by HBO. Espenson will write the sixth episode of “Thrones’” first season as a freelancer.

Also writing single episodes of the drama: Bryan Cogman, a script coordinator for the show, who’ll pen the fourth episode of the season, and George R.R. Martin himself. Martin, of course, wrote the book series on which “Game of Thrones” is based and has been closely involved in the project since it was announced. Martin is one of the show’s executive producer and a former writer for TV show such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “Twilight Zone.”

The rest of the 10-episode first season of “Game of Thrones” will be written by David Benioff and Chicago’s own D.B. Weiss, the team who scripted the pilot and have overseen the television adaptation from its inception.

First promo image from Thrones

First Promo image from game of thrones

HBO officially picks up Game of Thrones

source: http://winter-is-coming.net/2010/03/hbo-officially-picks-up-game-of-thrones/

It’s official! James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter breaks the news that HBO has officially greenlighted Game of Thrones.

Winter is, indeed, coming.

HBO has greenlighted highly anticipated fantasy series “Game of Thrones.”

The premium network has picked up the project for a first season debut next spring (below is the first released photo from the series). Nine episodes plus the pilot have been ordered. Production will begin in Belfast this June.

From the moment the project was first announced in development, the series based on the George R.R. Martin novels has generated enormous, perhaps unprecedented, online interest for a series at such an early stage.

The sprawling tale set in the mythical land of Westeros tells the story of the noble Stark family who become caught up in high court intrigue when patriarch Eddard (played by Sean Bean) becomes the king’s new right-hand man. The four-and-counting books in the series would each be used as one season of the series.

Unlike many fantasy novels, the “Thrones” series largely avoids relying on magical elements and instead goes for brutal realism — think “Sopranos” with swords. Martin, a former TV writer (“Beauty and the Beast”), writes each chapter as a cliffhanger, which should lend itself well to series translation.

Winter Is Coming: Well it was not unexpected, but this is still exciting news! The day we’ve waited months for has finally come! Now we know for sure that we will be able to see at least 10 episodes of this wonderful book series on the small screen. As Lombardo mentioned a while back, HBO is targeting a spring release. The next year should fly by though as we anticipate the rest of the casting announcements, the filming of the first season, then the trailer, interviews, commericals and red carpet premieres. I can’t wait. For now I’m just loving the fact that this thing is official. Oh and HBO gave the fans a little present and released the first promotional image! Winter is coming to HBO, for real this time!

Rumor: HBO reaction to screening “not positive”

All may not be sunshine and rainbows on the Game of Thrones front. Commenter Michael has remarked that he has a source that is stating that HBO’s reaction to the pilot screening was “not positive” and that they are “back editing, trying to make it work.” He later goes on to say:

I should probably elaborate since I’m sure I’ll be attacked, but HBO just wasn’t as positive as they thought they would be. That doesn’t mean it won’t receive the light, but the show is so expensive that it just doesn’t bode well. I am told that Sean Bean is terrific, though.

Adam Whitehead of The Wertzone adds some conflicting info from his own sources:

Consulting my own sources suggests that whilst Michael’s comments that the pilot may not be 100% perfect (and no pilot ever is) and some elements may need further work might be correct – I’d be surprised if this was not the case – the overall vibe and enthusiasm for the project remains quite high at HBO.

Winter Is Coming: My feeling is that the original comments from Michael are reflective of, like Adam says, the normal pilot process being played out. Of course, HBO is likely to want some tweaking here and there. But based on everything else we have heard, HBO still seems excited about the project. Either way, this rumor is a good reminder that a green light is still not 100% guaranteed.

Harry Lloyd confident Thrones will get green light

We have yet another interview with Harry Lloyd, this one from Wonderland magazine. In the interview, Lloyd talks Game of Thrones and it’s chances at aseries pick up.

…in March the execs at the American HBO company will decide whether or not to give the green light to Game of Thrones, which is based on George R. R. Martin’s mythical A Song of Ice and Fire novel series – something Harry Lloyd is quietly confident will happen. “It’s not a case of people throwing money into some kind of blockbuster with a rubbish script – it’s really gritty and character-driven and complicated with struggle for power in this kind of Middle Earth land with less magic and more backstabbing. It’s a size of film set I hadn’t been on, and it’s great there are people who can afford to tell this story on the scale that it deserves. And as it’s made by HBO, the people making it have a lot more control because it is a cable channel and not a huge corporation.”

Winter Is Coming: Lloyd’s publicist has been working overtime these past couple months. Lloyd really has done a great job talking up the series and it’s great to hear his thoughts on the reason he finds the story so compelling.

Game of Thrones: A smash hit waiting to happen?

Source:
http://winter-is-coming.net/2010/02/game-of-thrones-a-smash-hit-waiting-to-happen/

Will Game of Thrones become a hit for HBO or just another decent show? Certainly from the fans’ point of view seeing the story we love retold on screen will be exciting. But will the story capture the imagination of the general public?

The general consensus among the fan base is that the show is destined for success. And it seems to have the recipe for becoming the next True Blood or Sopranos. The characters, the setting, the intrigue, the action, the romance… all add up to a show that people will want to watch and talk about the next day around the water cooler. The quality of the show seems to be there as well. A great cast, an amazing crew, and show runners that are doing their best to stay faithful to the books while keeping the budget down.

But as we know, quality doesn’t always translate into a large audience. Look at The Wire, as an example. It was widely considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, yet it never did capture the imagination of the general public. It’s ratings were low and on any other network, it would have been canceled after a season or two. So what was the problem?

One issue may have been the gritty urban setting, which could have turned a number of viewers off. Unfortunately a medieval fantasy setting may be even more of a turn-off to the average viewer. Then there is the genre, The Wire exists in the crime drama genre. The amount of crime dramas on TV are numerous and capturing the public’s imagination in that setting proved to be difficult. Fantasy doesn’t have the quantity of shows that crime dramas do, but the fantasy shows that are out there are low-budget and low-quality which may hurt Thrones‘ public perception. Lastly there is the aspect of characters with moral ambiguity. Sometimes people just like a basic good-vs.-evil story and a show with realistic characters may be depressing to the average viewer who’s just looking for some escapism. The Wire had a lot of these “gray” characters. Guess what? Thrones does too.

So where does that leave us? Will Game of Thrones become a phenomenon on the level of True Blood or just another The Wire, a great show but one that failed to capture a large audience? It could go either way. One advantage for Thrones’ is it’s passionate fan base. That passion is infectious and I’ve already seen how it can spread and add potential viewers. But will that be enough to make the show into the huge hit we are all hoping for?

Game of Thrones Casting Trailer Video

Game of Thrones Episode air dates

Game of Thrones episode air dates will be posted here when available.

HBO Encouraged By ‘Game Of Thrones’

HBO’s dailies for the fantasy pilot “Game of Thrones” look “fantastic,” and the project is ripe for a series pickup, according to the network’s programming chief Michael Lombardo.

Executives are “sitting on pins and needles” waiting to view a rough cut in two weeks, Lombardo said. If the pilot is greenlit, “Game of Thrones” should hit HBO in March or April of 2011, and would span a novel’s worth of material per season.

Principal photography began in late October in Northern Ireland and wrapped up in Morocco in November. HBO reportedly spent between $5 million and $10 million on the pilot. Now they are apparently looking into booking two hangars at the Northern Ireland Paint Hall filming site for the next five years.

Tom McCarthy, who earned accolades for his work on 2003’s “The Station Agent” and 2007’s “The Visitor,” directed the pilot based on a script penned by the show’s executive producers David Benioff (“Troy,” “The Kite Runner”) and D.B. Weiss.

“Everything looks fantastic,” Lombardo said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “The director got great performances. Unlike a lot of projects like this, everything was shot on location. It has such a rich texture that it looks more expensive than it actually was.”

Based on Martin’s bestselling “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels, the series would follow the treacherous clash between royal families to secure ultimate power of the vast lands of Westeros. Royalty and knights play a perilous game of intrigue, where those gifted with unflinching resolve and a keen eye for subterfuge often conquer more than the greatest armies.

“The fantasy is so incidental, it has a very adult tone,” Lombardo explained. “You forget it’s fantasy while you’re watching it, and that’s what I love about it.”

The pilot will include some CGI for backgrounds and the tale’s “direwolves” — a mixture of real animals and CGI. Also, the series is confirmed to feature each family, like in the books, with its own color pallet for clothing and armor.

“Game of Thrones” stars Sean Bean (“The Lord of the Rings”), as Eddard “Ned” Stark; Lena Headey (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “300″), who will play queen Cersei Lannister; Peter Dinklage as her cunning dwarf brother Tyrion; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“New Amsterdam”) as her twin, Jaime; Jennifer Ehle as Ned’s wife Catelyn Stark; and Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon.

“I would be surprised if it doesn’t” get greenlit, Lombardo said. “It has everything going for it.”