The South by Southwest conference and festivals are held each March in Austin, Texas. The biggest names in sports, entertainment, music, gaming, and everything in between descend upon the Texas capital for just under two weeks for panels, musical acts, film festivals, and more. (Except locals — we usually take a vacation.)
HBO has maintained a large presence at the conference over the past several years, opening a pop up exhibit called SXSWesteros where fans could sit on the Iron Throne, among other things. (Below, Snoop Dogg takes a seat.) This year, HBO is stepping up its game. We reported last month that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss would appear on a panel. Now, according to the festival’s website, two principal cast members will be joining them: Sophie Turner (Sansa) and Maisie Williams (Arya). Deep breath.
(Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for HBO Game of Thrones)
We’ve previously wondered whether Benioff and Weiss might use this opportunity to debut a trailer for Game of Thrones season 7. Adding heavyweighs like Turner and Williams makes us more curious still.
The foursome’s panel takes place on March 12th. Per cast members, filming should be over by that point.
At its pop up exhibit last year, mere weeks before season 6 aired, fans were treated to thirty seconds of new footage. Season 7 will air much later in the year than usual, sometime in the summer. It might be too early for HBO to debut a full trailer, but it may well show off a clip or something. For example, if Arya and Sansa reunite in season 7, there would be no better time to debut footage of them together. It’s been too long.
Whatever happens, I’ll be on hand to cover the event for Winter is Coming. Count down the days with me.