Game of Thrones is a very popular TV show. People in the entertainment business often look to what’s popular as a model for how to succeed, and a lot of them have looked to HBO’s mega-hit. With the show at the peak of its popularity, that’s going to keep happening. Here are some of the latest endeavors to take their cues from Game of Thrones.
First up, TV Line grabbed a quick word with Wendy Mericle, the showrunner for Arrow over on The CW. Word is that Stephen Amell, the star of the show, recently filmed “the most brutal fight scene in network television history,” to use Deadline’s words. Mericle admitted that Game of Thrones inspired the action scene.
"We’re now part of this [TV] universe where you have Game of Thrones and the way that they deal with violence and how they do their fights, so it’s our attempt to do something similar. It’s bloody. You’re in it. We’re doing a lot more ‘first person’ – not necessarily point of view – action. Stephen has been a huge proponent of doing that, and it’s going to feel real and in your face."
Deadline also says that the action scene is done in one shot. That makes it sound like the Arrow producers were inspired by one-shot action scenes featuring Jon Snow in episodes like “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards” specifically.
Good times.
Next, did you know that Sony is readying a new movie version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? It’s happening. IGN talked with McG, the film’s director. (And that’s not a typo—he goes by McG.) “Obviously, we’re all cognizant of what’s going on with Game of Thrones,” he said when asked about the tone of his movie. “It’s incredible.”
It’s ’80s night, and the feeling’s right.
Finally, Game of Thrones inspired videogame studio Bungie, the people behind the Halo games, to take a new direction in the upcoming expansion for Destiny, its sci-fi first person shooter. According to art director Shiek Wang, the expansion—called Destiny: Rise of Iron—will incorporate a more layered narrative, not unlike the one on HBO’s show.
"In Game of Thrones, you have these big, long episodes with a lot of different characters. But then [the show] leaves them for a while. Then they come back and dive super deep into, say, Arya. And you say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s why she did this, and that’s why the writers chose to do this!’ That’s very much what we’re doing with Rise of Iron."
Game of Thrones inspired the look of the expansion, too. For example, look at this promotional image for the game. It’s intended to give you some déjà vu.
And the links keep coming. “The one literal tie-in is that we used the same dog they used for the Ghost the direwolf in Game of Thrones,” Wang said. “We had the same dog do motion capture.”
Rise of Iron will be released on September 20. Perhaps it can help scratch that Game of Thrones itch.