Filming on the Game of Thrones pilot is complete. This was confirmed via a Julia Frey blog post. The last few days were all night shoots, with the last day of filming being a Tue night/Wed morning shoot. Yesterday was the wrap party and today the cast and crew are packing up and heading home.
Now it is onto post-production: editing, effects, sound, etc. Depending on how polished HBO wants this pilot to be before making a decision, that work could take a few weeks or a few months. We know Modern VideoFilm will be doing some work on the pilot in February. GRRM mentioned a decision from HBO in March. I tend to think it will be earlier than that though as HBO generally likes to make quick decisions. I’m holding out hope for an early Christmas present from HBO.
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49 Comments
First and Heres to the decline in news over the next few months
RobertQuote Reply
Time to wait and keep fingers crossed…
ceferaQuote Reply
Please early christmas present….
StuQuote Reply
This is going to be a hard wait…
brhodesQuote Reply
We are all fans of A Game of Thrones. Waiting is in our blood.
I would love a simultaneous announcement from George regarding the pilot being picked up, and ADWD being finished. Seriously.
Please George. Find it in your heart.
Hakeem OlajublogQuote Reply
So Winter, what are you going to do? Are you still going to search every corner of the internet for news, hidden interviews and secret photos or will you take it a bit more relaxed now filming has wrapped?
I could say I am not going to refresh this page 100 times a day, but I think I'd be lying. I want to be on the front row when HBO makes the big announcement.
*still hungry for news*
KnurkQuote Reply
I'm going to try to go into patient-Doran-Martell-mode. It's tough though. I was so used to having daily news!
strangerfaceQuote Reply
Done in 25 days, congratulations everyone! Night gathers and now our wait begins.
MarkoQuote Reply
@strangerface
I would never want to be anybody who has the gout. Hell no!
…ryan
invertebraeQuote Reply
Knurk: I'll still be here, posting any Thrones related news and info. It might be a little less exciting around here for a couple months, but no less busy.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I want it now. I can´t waiting more.
cuatroQuote Reply
Where are the pics of the actors characterizated? :___
elessargngQuote Reply
Alright, now somebody just has to get Rimshot an internship at Modern VideoFilm so the juicy news keeps coming. lol
WyattQuote Reply
Is there any chance that photos from the shoot would be released? Or would this not happen since it was only a pilot that was filmed and not a definite show?
It's so hard to believe that the shooting's done already; it seems like just yesterday that we heard that HBO had ordered a pilot! I really, really, REALLY hope this gets picked up…
BlueQuote Reply
WIC, quick question. Are pilots generally made available to the public? As in, will the pilot be shown on HBO to guage viewer interest? Or will HBO execs view the pilot privately, give their decision, and order more episodes, leading the viewer to wait for the first season of Game of Thrones wherein the first episode = the pilot (plus or minus some small editing changes and whatnot, presumably)?
Sorry this comment is so jumbled… I'm at work and don't have much time to edit. :) Thanks for all the great updates!!
Vulpes FulvaQuote Reply
Now we play the waiting game……
Aww, the waiting game sucks, let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos instead!
DemersonQuote Reply
The pilot will only be showing internally, though it is possible that some test screenings could be done in a few movie theaters somewhere (probably New York and/or L.A.) to gauge audience reaction, like is done with movies a lot. But it will not air on TV until the entire first season is done (well, when it's nearing completion, really), and if the show doesn't get picked up we'll probably never see it.
BrudeQuote Reply
As a counterpoint to Brude's assessment, there was a DVD Page for Game of Thrones on Amazon.com well before similar pages were made for Treme and Boardwalk Empire, shows that had both been picked up at the time. There's finally one for Treme, but Boardwalk Empire still goes without.
The reason I mention this is that the pilot for Caprica was sold in advance of its airing and seems to have done pretty well.
The DVD was released in April and the show is going to air in January.
I'll be the first to admit that if you're easily disappointed, Brude's take is the best to go with. It's also the most likely to happen. A DVD release of the pilot would be an extraordinary event, while no one seeing it until the series gets picked up would be business as usual.
Still, as I know HBO checks out this board once and a while, PLEASE do this, and release it not just in the USA but international markets as well. Fans want to see this show, and I think taking steps to ensure fans from outside the USA get to see it at the same time legally will do wonders to safeguard your interests.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
We're unlikely to see the full pilot before the full season is televised. Although early online leaks, intentional or otherwise, are not exactly unheard of these days. If the show is approved I'll be shocked not to see trailers and commercials for it or even making-of specials at least a few months prior to the first official viewing.
There may not be any more active shooting going on, but that doesn't mean WIC will have nothing to update us on for months. I'm sure Jamie Bower won't be the last one to have an interview where they're asked about GOT. GRRM probably won't be able to resist teasing us with bits of information. Nor will Devid and Dan on the ASOIAF forums. Maybe we'll be able to spot people on the post-production teams tweeting about their excitement for the GOT work they're doing. Updates may not be daily, but I'm sure there will be enough to keep us from getting too bored in our wait. Besides, it helps pass the time waiting for book #5 ;)
phillymosQuote Reply
Ok, I can do this. I can wait for ages. Yes I can … (Hopefully this elaborate lie I've told myself holds up for a while.)
Hakeem Olajublog, your idea of GRRM finishing ADWD now is so … brilliant. By George, we need that. :)
-1-Quote Reply
@Paul
Amen to that. Really, I had a case of bad conscience know that I'd had to get my greedy hands on the series on a "not-too-legal" way.
If the pilot is released as a separate, international DVD, I'll be first in line to buy it!
What the heck? It would almost feels like "contributing to the cause"!!
Do you hear us HBO? We abroad customers would like to spend our money on you!! :)
CaedesQuote Reply
As a counterpoint to Brude's assessment, there was a DVD Page for Game of Thrones on Amazon.com well before similar pages were made for Treme and Boardwalk Empire
Don't get too excited by it being on Amazon. Someone over at Westeros.org already went over all of that months ago and even followed up with someone at Amazon about it. Apparently anyone at the company can insert a listing into the Amazon.com system, it's really not hard to do at all and it's quite common for employees who are a fan of something to sort of jump the gun and put their favorite, upcoming thing in there before there is anything official.
The guy at Amazon checked into it and said there really isn't anything to this listing, it doesn't have any sort of official numbers or anything attached to it (whatever a DVD would have that is like an ISBN# for books). It was just some fan in the company most likely who sort of jumped the gun a bit. That listing has been in the system at Amazon for several months now, since well before production even started, and it didn't come from HBO.
I suppose it is possible that HBO will try something like Syfy's promotion of Caprica, but I wouldn't bet on it.
BrudeQuote Reply
I was introduced to the "Rome" show by a free give-away of the pilot episode on DVD at Best Buy. Honestly I probably wouldn't have watched the show without that give-away DVD, since I didn't have HBO at the time.
Same network, so maybe they'll do the same thing with Thrones.
shadallionQuote Reply
To make sure everyone in the world can see it, and has the opportunity to pay for it, HBO needs to put the episodes online, available worldwide, the same day as the first airing, or within a couple days after. Charge about $5 per episode I think.
HBO, listen to me, if you do this you will profit!!
Paul JQuote Reply
Winter is coming…
AnachroniteQuote Reply
So much time to film a single episode. How much time will it take to shoot a whole season, if the series is picked up?
AngeloQuote Reply
Brude, do you have a link to the discussion?
The reason I ask is because I posted a very similar thing here, where I asked my friend who worked at Amazon.com about it.
He gave almost the same answer, "Anyone can put this in," but his response was basically that it could be official or it might not be, that there was no way to tell.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
Here's what I wrote earlier:
Paul Gude
Oh, an update on the DVD listing on Amazon.com.
While walking home with my daughter from her preschool yesterday, I ran into an ex-boss of mine back when I used to work at Amazon.com. He's moved from Customer Service to the distribution centers. I asked him about what it takes to get an ASIN put into the catalog these days. He noted that the staff could basically create an ASIN for anything. (He actually said, "They could make an ASIN for me tomorrow if they wanted to," which brought thoughts of The Prisoner to mind.) I mentioned that Treme and Boardwalk Empire aren't listed yet, but they've been picked up.
He said there are most likely two reasons for that:
1) HBO was more dogged in getting that title into the catalog, possibly because they're going to have the related product sooner.
2) Someone at Amazon.com put the ASIN in early because they're a fan of the show and excited to get it in there.
I hope for #1, but suspect #2.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
It's just similar enough to what you posted that I'm wondering how the story over at Westeros.org matches up.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
Come on HBO. Don't let us down. Pick this show up.
It a surefire hit … you know it and we know it!!
dholdsQuote Reply
Amazon has had a listing for ADWD complete with release date for at least a year now. The release date just keeps changing as it comes and goes. I don't think seeing something on Amazon is significant at all.
LoriQuote Reply
To be clear about something, the fact that there's a listing on Amazon.com is not where I rest my hopes and dreams of the pilot getting released early on DVD if the show gets picked up.
I'll admit that at the time I posted it back in September, that was one of many alternate theories I came up with, another being that it may be an indication that the show was going to get picked up.
However, though it put me on the path, the things that's got me hoping HBO will try this is that SyFy did it with Caprica and the DVD sold pretty well, and that there was a statement a while back that DVD sales of Rome may have been enough to finance more seasons once the BBC backed out.
If HBO has a chance to make money off DVD sales of the pilot before the shows airs, I would hope they might consider taking it.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
Paul, it's quite possible I was remembering (and slightly misremembering) your post. I could have sworn it was over at westeros.org, but I could have been wrong.
I have no illusions about that listing being from HBO. It's been there a long time and there is no way they'd be setting something like that up in the Amazon system this early. It's still just too early in the process. We're still more than a year away from even seeing the show, much less the DVD's for the show, which usually come several months later.
BrudeQuote Reply
the difference between Caprica and GoT is, that Caprica had a 90min pilot. We have only 50min, i don't think that enough for a dvd release. I would like a gift code for a download (amazon or itunes) inside every copy of Dance (in spring/summer i hope ;)). This would be a good way to inform all readers of the existence of the series (there is only a small group of fans online, even westeroes.org has only 13416 members at this moment. Most readers out there know nothing of the pilot).
seb332Quote Reply
seb332,
You have a really good point about the length. They sell DVDs that are that short, but the ones that I own are either documentaries or kid's shows. The pilot bundled with a making-of documentary would be more attractive, perhaps.
That said, I think your idea would be completely awesome.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
hmmm…i think this doesn't quite fit. first: BSG had a long tradition of DVD movies (I would consider miniseries one, Razor another, and also The Plan had already been announced). secondly: Caprica's pilot was made more like a TV movie like Razor and not as an episode of the series. thirdly: it was decided in the beginning that Caprica will come out on DVD – they even filmed the unnessecary nudity for that.
also, HBO is really tight lipped about their series. once agin i'll bring in The Pacific – we don't know almost anything about it and probably won't know much ahead of it's scheduled release. i'm almost sure that they don't even send review copies (?). while other channels actually show their new pilots as ways to gauge audience reactions on their local affiliates, i cannot see HBO doing something similar.
all in all, next year's ComicCon (or sth similar) is probably the venue when we'll something more than a tiny trailer, a gallery of press photos and a couple of wallpapers. (this is the hopeful fanboy in me talking)
peeterQuote Reply
Mmm… I second the idea of a DVD pilot with documentary. I'd buy one for all my friends just to get them watching!
silveroakarticlesQuote Reply
I have to agree with Peeter on this one. They did what they did with CAPRICA because they almost marketed it as yet another BSG TV movie, like the earlier mini-series and RAZOR and the later THE PLAN, so there was a built-in, large fanbase ready to go buy it.
With A GAME OF THRONES there may be a buzz about the project on a few media sites and amongst the book's existing fanbase, but for the general viewing public, who'd have to buy the DVD to make it a success and worthwhile, the show isn't even on their radar and won't be until it airs.
The pilot-DVD release ahead of transmission is extraordinarily unlikely to happen, IMO.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Peeter,
There is absolutely nothing in HBO's history or in the material itself that lends itself to me making this suggestion.
This isn't a guessing game for me. This isn't like the quizzes thrown out by GRRM. I'm not interested in figuring out what the most likely outcome is going to be, because I already know. The most likely outcome is business as usual.
This is something I would like to see happen, and something that would require a move that may be out of character for HBO.
It'll require absolutely no effort at all to get this not to happen, and it's quite possible that no effort in our part could get it to happen if they haven't already thought of it.
Still, statements like those from silveroakarticles are incredibly helpful, because anyone from HBO reading this might get the impression that it could be a worthwhile idea.
So, the question…
Forgetting for the moment that it's impossible, if it *were* to happen, would you buy one?
I would.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
Adam,
Same deal as what I said to Peeter.
It would be extraordinary if it were to happen. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but want to put the idea out there that HBO isn't some sort of machine. They can change and adapt, and Game of Thrones is an incredible opportunity.
seb332's preview code is another great avenue for them to explore.
Not matter what, I do think they need to invest time in trying to figure out a way to get it out to the international market at the same time as they get it to the USA. This is a separate thing from any of the preview hopes I have.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
Aha, Paul, I like the way you say international market, instead of UK market. Here in New Zealand there is zero chance of us getting until at least a few months of it screening in the US.
So unless some other option comes up, I will have no choice but to obtain it by other means, as I simply cannot wait that long.
Of course, being such the huge fan that I am, I will, without any doubt, be purchasing the DVD's (all seven of them – oh yes i can dream) as they come out to watch all the extras, so they will still be getting my money.
AriQuote Reply
Ari,
We've got fans from all over here. Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, Brazil, and tons more I'm forgetting/don't know about I'm sure.
I remember when Doctor Who came out in the UK before it came out here in the states. Die-hard fans had the choice of missing out on a huge event or becoming criminals.
I could see international fans running into the same issue.
That's a much bigger deal to me than whether or not I'll get to see the pilot a bit early.
I wish I knew a little more about international rights, so I'd know if I were asking the impossible.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
I would have thought a simple pay-per-episode download system would work, but I know very little about how it all works, as online TV purchases is fairly new territory here.
Unless the TV show is well established and successful (ala Lost) we here have to wait several months to see most US shows, if we get them at all that is.
Of course, being at the edge of the world, when a movie has a worldwide release date, we get to see it first. Sometimes this is a curse, as the latest world-wide release movie will attest – I will not mention any names for fear of getting slandered by the _______ movie lovers.
AriQuote Reply
My best case scenario: Hulu will start offering a premium version of itself, and HBO will start offering Hulu packages as well as cable packages.
Critical GeekQuote Reply
Congratulations and thanks to Winter and all of us! I've a good feeling about this…
sjweningsQuote Reply
I work in Search Engine Optimisation, puttings a stub page out early is something you do, to be first to the marketplace with a product.
This on my site I have put page out like amazon so when the box set comes out its been there for a year and has advantages over pages which get created when the product comes out.
Amazon may of done this by accident but I doubt it.
jon.hunterQuote Reply
Thanks, Jon.
That's a great reason, and something I hadn't thought about.
Right now when I search for "Game of Thrones DVD," Amazon.com is the 4th result.
Makes sense to me.
Paul GudeQuote Reply
You will probably find that im number 2 an dmy boss is number if searching in the UK.
Jon
NojQuote Reply
Impressive!
Winter mentions the site in his new post.
Paul GudeQuote Reply