In today’s edition of Metro newspaper in Sweden, there is a short interview with David Benioff. In it he discusses his book City of Thieves, Wolverine and touches briefly on his involvment with Game of Thrones, with the big news being a possible confirmation of shooting location and time. Below is the blurb about Thrones, translated into English. For those interested, a poster at the Westeros forums has, very kindly, translated the whole interview into English.
- I loved fantasy stories before I turned 13, 14 and began noticing girls. But George RR Martins tales are more complex. It’s more human stories than battle against evil monsters. As a writer for TV (HBO) I also get more responsibility. I’m involved in casting, who gets to direct and so on. We’ll begin filming in Ireland in October.
Winter Is Coming: Well this is an interesting place to break the news about a finalized shooting location and when they plan to start filming. A Swedish newspaper? Well at least we have more info now. Ireland seemed like the obvious choice from the start. The Tudors films there, so I imagine a lot of locations might be reused from that show. October seems like a long way off but with all the casting, set designing, costuming, etc. that needs to go into this, I guess it is a necessary wait. That means that we are certainly not going to be seeing this show until, I would guess, fall of 2010. If it gets picked up that is.
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26 Comments
Nice to here good news about the Project, and that it moves forward.
I was still hoping vor a Fall 2009 Release (if it had gotten picked up) but as long its coming I’m happy!
AnonymousQuote Reply
Ireland is a great choice although the Euro is rising so hopefully the cost will not increase or the dollar collapse. Thanks WinterIsComing for the scoop
AnonymousQuote Reply
isn’t the bbc also involved in funding? I would think that having HBO and the BBC involved in picking up the tab would be a great boon for GOT.
TheBluickQuote Reply
@bluick…. Not neccessarily….bbc also shared cost on Rome….what’s with these guys ?….nothing against the swedes but what about updating the major fan sites…revealing this info in a swedish paper instead of informing the fans is brutal….they need to do a better job working with the fans…ie ‘ the watchmen’ ,the team behind that utilized a relatively small fan base to help spread the word, to help build the hype….hopefully more info is forthcoming….somebody is dropping the ball on this one!!!!
coltaine777Quote Reply
This is great, we should be hearing some casting news soon I would guess…if they’re starting to film in 7 months.
Michael NataleQuote Reply
Fantastic news! I don’t mind waiting until 2010 if we get the show at all. But do I understand this correctly? – the pilot will be filmed in October, THEN the decision process at HBO will start and IF they want the whole series, then production will resume?
SamurayQuote Reply
does it change who were competing against at all?
asmodean96024Quote Reply
Samuray: That is correct. That is the normal process. However, HBO could at any time during the production for the pilot decide to order the whole series, in which case they would probably just start immediately scripting and casting for the whole season and shoot it concurrently with the pilot episode.
asmodean: Probably not. Both of the other big dramas still have not begun filming, so Thrones isn’t too far behind.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I can feel it, this is going to be the break out for Fantasy as surplus for serious television to tap. I am SO ready for it!
AnonymousQuote Reply
I do have to say the timing is odd. October? Even if HBO greenlighted production on the season, it would be shot during the worst possible time, the dead of winter. October in Ireland is windy, wet… a disaster. October through April? Even worse.
Now, I know Westeros doesn’t have perfect weather and not every scene will be shot outdoors… But if you shoot during he summer, you can create your own bad weather and get better lighting…
I just don’t see how a project like this would be shot in the dead of winter in Ireland. Have they been their?
AnonymousQuote Reply
I think an interesting/sad aspect of ASOIAF on HBO is going to be that the producers owe the fans nothing. We can’t really help the project and we can’t really hurt it. They don’t have to pander to us, because really, it’s the suits at HBO who say it’s a go. It’s success really has nothing to do with us. Yes, they will rally us at the last minute when it goes to air. But unlike the commercial networks, or film studios, they don’t really have to try and feed us information to get us excited.
So, I guess I’m just saying, get used to Benioff dropping information as though he has no publicity strategy / need for the fans.
AnonymousQuote Reply
True, Benioff and Weiss have no “need” for the fans, but they did say that they’d keep in touch with them through the ASOIAF boards…
As for the timing, my guess is that if HBO greenlights production, then the rest of the series will be filmed during the summer of 2010. Long time gaps between the pilot and the series aren’t unusual.
AnonymousQuote Reply
@ anonymous 4, a reasonable portion of the first book is up north in the snow, and the majority of the pilot will be in a cold clime, up around Winterfell. Makes sense to shoot it in a northern autumn/winter to me? I dunno, then I’m guessing that as it warms up and the pilot gets picked up, it’ll be warmer to shoot the more southern scenes.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I don’t disagree that poor weather would be accurate to the atmosphere of the books and TV series. I am just saying that shooting on an island known for particularly nasty weather poses more technical problems. For one, it’s unpredictable. There could be plenty of beautiful October days in Ireland, but its hard to predict. Typically if a script calls for poor weather, they actually create it with fans and sprinklers. They will probably make snow with snow machines etc. Shooting the pilot in October will probably work, but I would anticipate a pretty long delay in shooting should they pick up the series. Perhaps pick up the outdoor scenes in April? I’m just surprised they would shoot so late in the year.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Great news. I am happy this project is going ahead. I don’t necessarily see the fact that they will start filming this October as a bad thing. Weiss and Benioff with HBO and BBC have to take their time, get the funding, the cast, director etc. It is better that they proceed slowly and get everything right, than a rush job. Think about it this way…maybe the later they start filming later, the recession will end and things will start improving in the world economy, thus making for a better financial situation and more funds available for the BBC and HBO to spend on this project. Besides this will also mean more time for George RR Martin to work on the remaining novels. My main wish is to see ASOIF become reality, namely a landmark full-fledged series that will change the face of television and what is possible to create on the small screen. “ROME”, “Deadwood”, “The Wire”, “OZ” and a few others have already opened the door and prepared the way, I sincerely hope that ASOIF will take it a step beoyond.
loco73Quote Reply
Wonderful news! With any luck we’ll see A Dance with Dragons later this year as well, bringing more attention to the books and making A Game of Thrones more desirable for HBO.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Having worked with people both in the media and the subject of the media, I would like to add that they’re not always accurate. The quote could have been “We’d like to start no later than October” or somesuch. Just my $.02, accuracy seems to be a rarity these days.
AnonymousQuote Reply
This really is great news! I’ve only just started with A Clash of Kings but I’m already a huge fan of Martin and Westeros, and it would be wonderful to see GRRMs vision on the screen, especially done by HBO!
DaveQuote Reply
Awesome. Finally some news.
Its very possible that it could air during the winter 2010 season. It shouldn’t take a month to film one episode.
Hopefully more enws will trickle on in soon.
BubbaQuote Reply
Yay! If I think of anything more poingant later I’ll repost ;P
LordnedsheadQuote Reply
As an native of Ireland and massive fan, for me this is great news! Now where do I sign up to be an extra?
AnonymousQuote Reply
Considering what we know of the pilot’s script it doesn’t surprise me that they would film during the winter. Although, yes you can create cold weather with various CG effects and man-made snow etc. The cost of doing those things is probably a factor.
Have visible breath during an outdoor scene such as finding the dire wolf pups might not sound like a big deal, but creating it after the fact would be a large expense.
AnonymousQuote Reply
“Legend of The Seeker” was so utterly disappointing, I couldn’t get past the 3rd episode without groaning. I wasn’t expecting much after I found out that Raimi was involved due to his past with Xena/Hercules, and knowing what channel and time slot they were using.
ASOIAF has HBO behind it, so I would expect a significantly better production quality. In fact, I would estimate that we will be witnessing 1-hour theater quality episodes if they get it right.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Yes, I too, as an Irish native, would be interested in how one would go about becoming an extra. :D
renaskoQuote Reply
All I can say is Gerard Butler needs to be cast as Ned Stark, thats what I always pictured while reading the book. All in all it will be cool if they do it right.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Is there any news as to who will play Bronn? I feel his fight with Ser Vardis is a pivotal point in a GOT, yet I have not even seen his name mentioned in the casting.
AnonymousQuote Reply