HBO Officially Greenlights George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones as a TV pilot

[Liathiana]

Me too! I CAN'T WAIT!

[Ozhammer]

I only starting reading Martine a few years ago at the recommendation of Caddy, so I also cannae wait for the pilot.

 

ANd thanks Werthead for all your hard work keeping fans updated!

[Werthead]

Noted SF TV scriptwriter Jane Espenson has been added to the writers' roster for GAME OF THRONES. She will pen the sixth episode of the first season as a freelancer.

 

If you're a BUFFY, ANGEL, DOLLHOUSE or FIREFLY fan this news will no doubt cheer you (she did 'Shindig' for FIREFLY and 'Conversations With Dead People' for BUFFY, both very highly rated). If you're a GALACTICA fan it may be slightly more mixed (she did 'The Passage' and 'The Hub', which were okay, but she also did the extremely disappointing 'The Plan').

 

Newcomer Bryan Cogman will write the fourth episode, with David Benioff and Dan Weiss writing most of the rest. One episode, probably late-season if not the finale, will be written by George R.R. Martin himself.

[Werthead]

Casting for GAME OF THRONES has now resumed in the UK, with roles such as Barristan Selmy, Renly Baratheon and Littlefinger currently being sought.

 

However, there has been some recasting going on. Jennifer Ehle, who played Catelyn Stark in the pilot, is out and has been replaced by Northern Irish actress Michelle Fairley. No word on why Ehle left the project, but she reports via Twitter that it was all very amicable, she is a big fan of the books and will be tuning in next year, so it doesn't sound like major drama was the cause.

 

It also sounds like auditioning is currently going on for the role of Daenerys Targaryen, despite the fact that she was played in the pilot by rising British actress Tamzin Merchant (who can currently be seen as Katherine Howard in the final season of THE TUDORS). This leads to the conclusion that Merchant is also out and will be replaced by another actress. Again, no reasons have been given for why this might be the case.

 

In both cases, the actresses' scenes from the pilot will be refilmed for the series itself, to ensure no continuity errors.

 

On the production side of things, it has been confirmed that George RR Martin will be writing the eighth episode of the first season himself, and is now bent on finishing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS in the near future so he can throw himself into the script work.

 

GRRM has also shared some pictures (with permission) of actress Maisie Williams, who is playing Arya Stark, posing with a replica of the sword Needle from the books.

[Werthead]

HBO have contracted the Language Creation Society to create a working vocabulary and grammar for the Dothraki language for the forthcoming TV series. The LCS has produced a 1,800-word vocabulary for the language, which will be used extensively in the sequences involving Daenerys on the eastern continent.

 

This is surprising news, with the assumption being that the Dothraki sequences would be translated directly into English throughout the series. Instead, it seems they are taking this as seriously as Peter Jackson did the use of Quenya and Sindarin in the LotR movies.

 

No word on if other, extensively-used fictional languages in the books (Qartheen for Season 2 and the Valyrian of Slaver's Bay in Season 3) will receive similar treatment.

[Idontkno Wmyname]

Really amazing thread. I am not one for reading author's livejournals I usually find out through the grape vine, and it was great to get caught up as I am very excited about this.

 

Jennifer Ehle's casting was the one I was happiest about as I am a huge Pride and Prejudice fan. I have not heard of her replacement but I am sure she will do fine!

[Werthead]

It's been confirmed that Tamzin Merchant is indeed out of the project. She has been replaced by young newcomer Emilia Clarke.

 

Filming is now slated to begin in the second half of July and to run into January next year, with April/May 2011 pencilled in for transmission. At the moment they are casting the rest of the Season 1 characters (Renly, Varys, Littlefinger, Bronn, Barristan Selmy, Syrio Forel, Tywin Lannister etc), with some announcements hoped for soon.

[Werthead]

Teaser trailer for the series :)

 

It's very brief, to the point of redefining the meaning of the word 'teaser', but does give you very brief glimpses of Eddard, Theon, Gared, Will and the Dothraki. Some other images, including one of Sean Bean in costume, can be seen here and through links on that page.

[Werthead]

British actor Finn Jones has joined the cast. He will be playing Ser Loras Tyrell, the famous 'Knight of Flowers'.

[Sirayn]

British actor Finn Jones has joined the cast. He will be playing Ser Loras Tyrell, the famous 'Knight of Flowers'.

 

I like your description of Loras as a "good friend" of Renly Baratheon ... :D

[Rufae]

This looks to be forming up to be an awsome show. I only wish HBO would do something similar for WoT, but the Wheel doesn't have enough sex, violence, and rape as GRRM so they prolly not interested.

 

The girl playing Dany looks spot on save for the silver hair.

[Werthead]

This looks to be forming up to be an awsome show. I only wish HBO would do something similar for WoT, but the Wheel doesn't have enough sex, violence, and rape as GRRM so they prolly not interested.

 

WoT is in the hands of the movie folk and will be heading to the screen as PG (or PG-13 for those of an American persuasion), at best, so the ultraviolence of Dumai's Wells (which outstrips anything in ASoIaF: GRRM doesn't have people actually exploding), the vast amounts of Aes Sedai spanking and lesbian intimations, and Shaidar Haran's kneejerk response to rape people who fail him are all probably going to be cut.

[Werthead]

Additional casting news:

 

Kristian Nairn as Hodor.

Roy Dotrice as Grand Maester Pycelle.

John Bradley-West as Samwell Tarly.

Miltos Yerolemou as Syrio Forel and Luke McEwan as Rast.

 

Those who have listened to A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE on audio book will already be familiar with Dotrice, as he performed the first three books in the series.

[Werthead]

More casting news:

 

Jamie Sives as Jory Cassel and Ian McElhinney as Ser Barristan Selmy.

 

and a major role:

 

Aidan Gillen as Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish.

 

Aidan Gillen is one of the more notable names to be cast, as he is best-known for his portrayal of Mayor Carcetti on the last three seasons of THE WIRE.

[Werthead]

A whole motherload of casting news:

 

Conleth Hill as Varys.

Jerome Flynn* as Bronn.

James Cosmo** as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont of the Night's Watch (aka 'The Old Bear').

Francis Magee as Yoren.

Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon.

Margaret John as Old Nan.

Sir John Standing as Lord Jon Arryn (flashback).

Gethin Anthony as Lord Renly Baratheon.

Kate Dickie as Lady Lysa Arryn.

Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn (renamed from 'Robert Arryn' in the books).

Eugene Simon as Lancel Lannister.

Derek Halligan as Ser Alliser Thorne.

Dominic Carter as Commander Janos Slynt of the King's Landing City Watch.

Susan Brown as Septa Mordane.

Josef Altin as Pyp.

Dermot Keaney as Gared (a recasting from the pilot, he replaces Richard Ridings).

Rob Ostlere as Ser Waymar Royce (a recasting from the pilot, he replaces Jamie Campbell Bower).

Brendan McCormack as Ser Vardis Egen.

Emun Elliott as Marillion, a singer met at the crossroads inn.

Jefferson Hall as Ser Hugh of the Vale.

Ciaran Birmingham as Mord, the jailor of the Eyrie.

Antonia Christophers as Mhaegen, 'Barra's mother' in the novel.

Rhodri Hosking as Mycah.

 

Another casting tidbit from GRRM:

 

Natlia Tena*** as Osha.

 

* Yes, Jerome from Robson and Jerome. Yes, this is a bit of a surprising one. No, he probably won't be singing 'Up on a Roof' as he duels Ser Vardis in the Eyrie's courtyard.

 

** That crazy old Scottish guy who appears in a film whenever an old geezer is needed who can still believably slaughter everyone on screen with a battleaxe (see: HIGHLANDER, BRAVEHEART, TROY, THE LAST LEGION, MERLIN and many more).

 

*** Nymphadora Tonks from the HARRY POTTER movies.

 

 

Castle Black set under construction at Magheramorne Quarry near Larne, Northern Ireland:

 

 

Nice. Obviously the quarry rockface will be replaced by practical and CGI effects for transmission.

[Red2111]

now i'm sad i don't have HBO.. i actually just picked up this series, i'm almost finished with Game of Thrones, about 100 pages to go.  since they are doing the show ... does this mean GRRM will push to have the last 3 books out?? or alteast the 5th one thats like 6 yrs in the making

 

 

will HBO have entire episodes viewable on their website like Showtime did for Tudors?

 

 

i wish that Showtime or HBO would grab WoT as well instead of doing a movie with the series.  theres plenty of violence and political manuvering and plot to make up for the lack of sex.  look at Dexter & United States of Tara, those shows lack sex but there still the top rated shows on Showtime.

[Werthead]

now i'm sad i don't have HBO.. i actually just picked up this series, i'm almost finished with Game of Thrones, about 100 pages to go.  since they are doing the show ... does this mean GRRM will push to have the last 3 books out?? or alteast the 5th one thats like 6 yrs in the making

 

Book 5 is almost done as we speak (GRRM just updated his blog with an ominous post about snow pouring down and characters dying horribly) and GRRM has said his plan is to do 6 and 7 in three years each. HBO are very likely going to be taking 18 month-gaps between seasons and will probably split Book 3 across two seasons, so he's got quite a lot of leeway. In fact, if they do both of those things he can take 5 years each on Books 6 and 7 and still get them out first (even if only just).

 

will HBO have entire episodes viewable on their website like Showtime did for Tudors?

 

I believe so, but you need to be a HBO subscriber to watch them in the first place. They will put them up on iTunes, but likely not for a few weeks.

[Werthead]

Charles Dance is Tywin Lannister.

 

This increases the level of awesome in the production by several hundred percent.