Song of Ice and Fire on HBO: where is Eye of the World?

[trashbird1240]

I just found out that George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones has been made into a series on HBO, as "the Sopranos in Middle Earth." Although I'm hoping that synopsis is a joke, I'm looking forward to reading the book and then seeing the cinematic interpretation. I've already put it on my Netflix queue, and meanwhile where is any adaptation of the Wheel of Time?

 

Jason Denzel's interpretation for the book trailer was awesome, and I'd like to see him creatively involved.

 

Are Red Eagle are just dragging their feet? Of course I don't want a film or TV series to be a rushed piece of crap, but it looks like Martin's story has been put into pictures quite rapidly, and I expect high quality given that HBO appears to be competing with Showtime's Rome and The Tudors.

 

What do you think?

[steve316]

I alternate regularly on who I like better, Martin or Jordan. Martin's style is definitely different, but once you get used to his style, the books become part of you. I recommend reading the entire available series. And I look forward to the HBO series. If it's half as good as the books, it's a win for HBO. I heard that Martin wrote the first episode or two, or something, and that he'll bee an Executive Producer. If that's true, we'll get to see a true translation from page to screen. Can't wait!

 

And on a side note....the trip from book to screen hasn't been that quick for Martin's work either. It's been a good long while since Game of Thrones hit the shelves.

[Elend]

I think Martin wrote something like episode 8 of Game of Thrones. I know I read that somewhere, probably his blog.

[trashbird1240]

I alternate regularly on who I like better, Martin or Jordan.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing it too, even though I haven't started the books yet. I plan to, but I've been a total Wheel of Time fiend for the past two years (i.e. since I started reading EotW). Maybe after Towers of Midnight.

 

And on a side note....the trip from book to screen hasn't been that quick for Martin's work either. It's been a good long while since Game of Thrones hit the shelves.

 

I meant something quite different: the series hasn't even premiered yet, and I can already reserve it on Netflix, and from what I've read the adaptation itself took less than a year from the deal being signed. I meant production time, not "absorbtion time" (time from first publication to premiere of the adaptation). People have often said that WoT hasn't been adapted for the screen because it's not finished, but now that argument won't hold up. Besides we know it will be finished. Unless Martin's a lot less attentive to detail (and again I can't comment) his works should be just as difficult to adapt as the Wheel of Time. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

[hotpocket2006]

 

I meant something quite different: the series hasn't even premiered yet, and I can already reserve it on Netflix, and from what I've read the adaptation itself took less than a year from the deal being signed. I meant production time, not "absorbtion time" (time from first publication to premiere of the adaptation). People have often said that WoT hasn't been adapted for the screen because it's not finished, but now that argument won't hold up. Besides we know it will be finished. Unless Martin's a lot less attentive to detail (and again I can't comment) his works should be just as difficult to adapt as the Wheel of Time. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

 

Actually I think Martin pays too much attention to detail, it'll be going on 5 years on Oct 17, since the last book in the series was out, and from what I read on his "Not a blog", though he's got a big chunk of the next book done, he's having trouble with writing the major part of the book, he calls it "Kong" or the "Meereenese knot."

 

The reason why I think aSoIaF has been made into an HBO series, is the content of the book. It's gritty, dirty, and down right sexual. The good guys don't always win and some of the bad guys can seem like good guys. There's a lot of intrigue and it's not the typical fantasy epic. People are going to be very interested in it, wondering who's going to get killed next or who's going to be screwing whom.

 

Also the series isn't as long, there's only supposed to be 7 books. They also shot the pilot early this year, and from what I've heard once a show gets green lit, which they obviously had to have tons of good feedback from the pilot, it moves at a relatively fast pace. I think the most difficult part is finding the actors, but this book has so many characters that it's easy to shoot different scenes at different times. Also I heard that there's only going to be like 10 episodes for the first season. Though don't quote me on that because things can change. They had to change a major actress, so they had to reshoot the pilot after they had already shot it the first time.

 

WoT, even though I love it, just doesn't have the appeal to viewers who have never read/heard of the series like aSoIaF does. I mean look what happened to Legend of the Seeker, and granted the books suck so it didn't have much to work with, it got cancelled. I personally don't think the WoT would translate well to a show.

 

All in all, I am super excited for it!

[The Fisher King]

A Dance With Dragons...will never be published - Call me crazy, or a conspiracy theorist, but: You Heard It Here First.

 

 

 

Fish

[hotpocket2006]

A Dance With Dragons...will never be published - Call me crazy, or a conspiracy theorist, but: You Heard It Here First.

 

 

 

Fish

 

Yes it does seem that way *tear*

[Elend]

A Dance With Dragons...will never be published - Call me crazy, or a conspiracy theorist, but: You Heard It Here First.

 

 

 

Fish

 

Yes it does seem that way *tear*

 

I've been feeling good about Dance lately. I think we'll have it sometime around late 2011 or maybe into 2012.

 

But I'm not GRRM so I can't say. Just a feeling I have.

[trashbird1240]

WoT, even though I love it, just doesn't have the appeal to viewers who have never read/heard of the series like aSoIaF does. I mean look what happened to Legend of the Seeker, and granted the books suck so it didn't have much to work with, it got cancelled. I personally don't think the WoT would translate well to a show.

 

Although I agree with your final statement about adaptation --- there are some things that the adaptors would get hideously wrong, like how important height of the characters is --- I think the Wheel of Time has plenty of appeal. The last five books were #1 bestsellers, i.e. everybody knows somebody who's read at least one of the books.

[Elend]

Honestly, the Wheel of Time should be a series and, IMO at least, animated. Seriously. Its so long with so much epic that its the only cost effective way of doing it, IMO. And you can appeal to younger viewers. The books themselves aren't that bad as far as anything goes and when parents watch it with kids, what do they do? They like it. And watch more of it, then go and read the books.

 

But, yes, an animated Wheel of Time series could be very successful and could find a good niche market.

[hotpocket2006]

Although I agree with your final statement about adaptation --- there are some things that the adaptors would get hideously wrong, like how important height of the characters is --- I think the Wheel of Time has plenty of appeal. The last five books were #1 bestsellers, i.e. everybody knows somebody who's read at least one of the books.

 

I disagree completely with your last statement. I had never even heard of the WoT up until about 6 months ago, and the only reason I found out about it was I randomly picked it up off of the shelf at my local Barnes & Noble. I had never even heard of Robert Jordan, and if I wouldn't have picked up that book, I can almost guarentee that I wouldn't have heard about it until the series was finished and it got all the press and what not, maybe not even then. There are tons of people who hate reading, hate reading fantasy (because it's dorky, because it doesn't interest them, etc), or just don't want to read these particular books, who would be the make it or break it for the series. Think of True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, or Harry Potter. Most of the people who watch those shows/movies have never even read the books, and those are the people that keep those franchises alive. Not the diehard book fans, but people who haven't read the book but highly enjoy the shows/movies. And there's even like tons of people on this site who has read any of the WoT books.

 

That's why when you talk to a true HP fan, they'll tell you the movies suck, but if you talk to someone who has only seen the movies they think they're great. They have to make the show/movie appealing to people who have never heard/read of the series. The WoT would be extremely hard to adapt to that because stuff would have to be cut out, blah, blah, blah. I think you're totally looking at this in a biased prospective, of course you would think the WoT would be appealing, just as I think it would be too, but we've read the books and know the stories. There have been plenty of shows/movies based on books who have tried and failed miserably because it only appealed to the people who have read the books, not to the majority of the world who in fact has not read/heard of those books.

[Red2111]

i added HBO to my cable just for this show. i agree that due to the content of the books it will gain fans from just the show itself, and i think it will be a hit as well. about Dance with Dragons, i think once GRRM see's the popularity of his books grow due to the HBO series, he will get the new book out in print; this actually maybe why he's taken so long to do the next book, working with HBO and maybe working out details on how the story will go so HBO knws what they can & can't cut as far as content. but i have high hopes for the new book to come out late next year or early 2012.

 

 

as for who pays more attention to detail Jordan or Martin, i'd say it's about even there. the only difference with Martins books is that they're easier to relate to becuase there is less of a magic feel too it and it's more realistic in terms of good guys & bad guys and who wins. as well as Martins being way more adult material for the explicit scenes which Jordan was never partial too

 

 

with the WoT, i think what might be the biggest hold up is the fall our from Jordans death. it maybe that Harriet & Sanderson aren't ready to focus on helping Red Eagle with the on screen thing and want to focus more on getting us fans the remaning books. personally i think it's smart not to start adapting a book series to the screen until the series is done, that way the author isn't forced to change things in the books because of Hollywood (like with Harry Potter).

 

 

and i personally think WoT would be better suited as a tv series (HBO, Showtime or STARS) rather than in movies. it think it would relate well and sate the appitite that Supranos & Tudors began; especailly after Game of Thrones is released. for these series on the movie networks to be good, it doesn't always have to be sex, gore & politics. look at Dexter & Tara. Dex has some gore, but the content and the character is what grabs the veiwers and you hardly have sex scenes in it. and yet it is showtimes most popular show.

 

with the WoT you would have politics & gore and some sex; the characters are relatable and the story is classic. plus us readers alone are enough to give the show decent ratings. i'd love to see WoT be brought as a series to the movie channels 2012 after the release of MoL.

 

 

[Elend]

I actually really liked the Harry Potter movies and I liked the books too...

 

But maybe that's because I've read and seen how much Stephen King's stuff gets butchered. And I mean butchered. Harry Potter and its movies didn't get killed nearly as much and made very entertaining movies that basically tell the same story.

 

And, again, any serious attempt to adapt WoT would have to be a series I think. The same goes with any epic fantasy. I mean, the Lord of the Rings was pretty short. Eye of the World alone almost equals the entire Lord of the Rings length in terms of word-count. The series as a whole? About 9-10 times Lord of the Rings.

[Rufae]

GRRM's aSoIaF is good but it is a little babe compared to Wheel of Time. Don't get me wrong, I love Song but in terms of plot complexity and world building, Jordan wins hands down. That is why you would have a difficult time bringing WoT to the screen, the story would have to be sliced and diced so much that it would barely resemble the books. GRRM's story is smaller but even so they had to combine a couple roles and cut scenes found in the book.

 

Both GRRM and Jordan focus on details - Jordan with dresses/fabrics, GRRM with food.

 

That being said, I love Song and would highly recommend it if you aren't too squimish about sex, sex with underage teens, and blood/gore. GRRM also put several homages and inside jokes about Wheel of Time in his story (Lord Jordayn of the Tor, anyone?).

[Mooka]

I meant something quite different: the series hasn't even premiered yet, and I can already reserve it on Netflix, and from what I've read the adaptation itself took less than a year from the deal being signed. I meant production time, not "absorbtion time" (time from first publication to premiere of the adaptation). People have often said that WoT hasn't been adapted for the screen because it's not finished, but now that argument won't hold up. Besides we know it will be finished. Unless Martin's a lot less attentive to detail (and again I can't comment) his works should be just as difficult to adapt as the Wheel of Time. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

 

The reason why I think aSoIaF has been made into an HBO series, is the content of the book. It's gritty, dirty, and down right sexual. The good guys don't always win and some of the bad guys can seem like good guys. There's a lot of intrigue and it's not the typical fantasy epic. People are going to be very interested in it, wondering who's going to get killed next or who's going to be screwing whom.

One thing you guys may have missed is that Martin is also a screenwriter along with being an author. He's worked in television before and he's also a co-producer for the series. And I believe like the Sopranos' David Chase, the pilot and/or final episode is written by Martin. (though I don't think Martin is also a director like Chase)

 

So while HBO may have had their own reasons for picking the series, Martin himself has probably had ambitions to turn his series into a TV show.

[hotpocket2006]

Good point Mooka, George has done so many things in his life that I can't keep track of it all.

[The Wolf King]

I had just gotten into A Song of Ice and Fire earlier in the year and when I went to Barnes and Noble they told me that Dragons came out this Christmas. I was all like, yay can't wait. Then I did some research, found out the truth, cried a little and am now hopin it comes out next year. I can't wait to see how they handle the tv show, I have high hopes for it.

As for the rest of this topic, I think WOT should be an cgi animated series, kinda like FF7: Advent Children. That way you don't have to worry about the age of the actors and such. It could be epic if its done right.

As for HP, I love the books and the movies, even though they stray from the books too much. But I still appreciate them.

[Elend]

Guys... guess what?

 

Dance only has five chapters to go. Could be done by Christmas.

 

Cheer up, folks. Seems my optimistic "Hope to read it by 2011-2012" may have been right after all

[hotpocket2006]

As much as I don't want to get my hopes up because there has been numerous "he's almost finished with the book" rumors/him saying he was done with it at the end of AFfC, I am super estatic about this.

[Elend]

As much as I don't want to get my hopes up because there has been numerous "he's almost finished with the book" rumors/him saying he was done with it at the end of AFfC, I am super estatic about this.

 

The thing to keep in mind is that, right now, GRRM is extremely gun-shy. He won't announce something like this easily and this isn't even a date- this is just the usual "I have this much left to do" type update. So now we know he has five chapters to write. On top of that, I kinda obsessively stalk his blog, and I've known for awhile he was getting close to done. Lots of talk of how he only has a few PoVs to write and so forth.

 

I just know I'm completely stoked now and that my instinct to start a re-read appears to be perfect timing. I think my favorite characters are the ones contained in Dance, but I don't recall as its been so long since I've read it. IIRC, Tyrion should be popping up here (always a plus) as will Bran (finally get to determine Coldhands identity- and maybe get some closure on Benjen Stark).

 

ETA: BTW, this is my first re-read and I'm awestruck at all the things I'm noticing now. I never read through something the first time for substance (so to speak), I just read it for plot. My re-reads are for the more important stuff and I'm just blown away at how well GRRM writes.

[Red2111]

dug up an old ASoF&I thread to discuss book content in, to prevent spoilers from leaking too much into this thread

[Werthead]

They're more or less halfway through filming Season 1 at the moment, and have filmed most or all of the first five episodes and parts of episodes 6-8. George RR Martin wrote Episode 8, which is the episode where:

 

 

Tyrion meets his father and Shae and the Lannister and Stark armies clash on the Green Fork.

 

 

The other episodes were written by Hollywood screenwriters David Benioff and DB Weiss (Episodes 1-3, 5, 7 and 9-10), newcomer Bryan Cogman (episode 4) and BUFFY and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA writer Jane Espenson (episode 6).

 

Right now they're filming in Malta, which is doubling for both the more exotic locations of the east where Daenerys is travelling and also for the city exteriors of King's Landing, and will be returning to Northern Ireland to round off the series in a few weeks. The current plan is to complete shooting in late December or early January and begin broadcasting the series in March 2011 in the USA (on HBO) and in April 2011 on the UK (on Sky Atlantic).

 

The most in-depth coverage of the series filming can be found at the website Winter is Coming.

[Red2111]

awesome. thanks for the update Wert

 

if there only there in the 8th episode, then i have high hopes for them keeping alot of the content. it's a good pace as well *nods*

 

are they only doing 10 episodes? normally they can get 12 episodes in a season with the Showtime & HBO series.

 

looks like the air date is aimed to compete with Showtimes new series "The Borgias"., which will most liekly be airing late march, early april 2011 to take Tudors old time slot.

 

thank god for DVR's *grins*

[Werthead]

awesome. thanks for the update Wert

 

if there only there in the 8th episode, then i have high hopes for them keeping alot of the content. it's a good pace as well *nods*

 

are they only doing 10 episodes? normally they can get 12 episodes in a season with the Showtime & HBO series.

 

looks like the air date is aimed to compete with Showtimes new series "The Borgias"., which will most liekly be airing late march, early april 2011 to take Tudors old time slot.

 

thank god for DVR's *grins*

 

They are doing 10 episodes for the first season, possibly 11-12 for Season 2 and then see how it goes for Season 3 (which will need to be like 15 episodes long or maybe split into two seasons). The pilot episode covered almost 90 pages of the 800-page novel by itself, so there was no need for 12 episodes.

[Rufae]

I am wary about finding out too much about the TV production until after I see it. I don't want too much info to ruin the "reality" of the show. I don't want to watch it and be thinking "Oh here is the rock quarry in Ireland" and "Here is Malta". For me, I want to know that stuff AFTER I see the TV series.