Game of Thrones: The TV Show (novelisation coming soon)

[Sarr]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111795 ... 6&cs=1&p=0

Being a great fan of the books, I was ecstatic to know that HBO had picked up the rights to make a Song of Ice and Fire series. Apparently, Martin gets to write one episode a season (each season encompassing about a single book) and the whole thing is going to be filmed in New Zealand.

Anyone else excited? Apprehensive? Any good ideas for casting? Anything that I missed/haven't thought of?

[Sir_Elderberry]

I'd heard about this a while ago, actually. It depends, really, ASOIAF is a really great series, but a very huge one. Characters are everywhere. Can that be adequately captured in television? Well. We'll see. I'm glad they didn't decide to try a movie version though. (Sweet Euler, the thought of them mangling the plot into two hours.)

I think it'll be good. I'm just glad I get HBO.

[Amarantha]

No greenlight yet, but we can hope:

http://grrm.livejournal.com/46002.html

[TallMax]

It'll probably get cancelled like Carnivale.

[mosc]

Given the book delays, the source material is more than a decade away from completion probably. We'll be lucky if he ever finishes at all given his age and the nature of mortality.

I am also kind of saddened. He talked about film adaptations already in which he equated each book to something the size of the lord of the rings meaning he thought there'd be about 3 moves PER book or 21 in total. No studio is going to do 21 movies...

[souldelay]

As much as I love the books, I can't say I'm really looking forward to there being a tv series. Then again, I don't have much to worry about since I don't get HBO (yay for cheap cable).
I like the images of the characters I have in my head, and as interesting as it would be to see the books played out in real-time on the silver screen, I can't bear to shatter those images and replace them with the face of some unknown actor.
I'm a geek sometimes :X

[Sarr]

Thats one of the main reason I often hate adaptations - how they ruin what you think the character looks like. I could type out a description of a person... say, a Tall, elderly man with short cut black hair streaked with grey and a long beard. Everyone who read that will have a different mental image. Then I take an actor who fits the description, and I bet you he won't fit ANYONE'S image. I hate it.

That said, I still am excited about this.

[ndansmith]

Thats one of the main reason I often hate adaptations - how they ruin what you think the character looks like.

I realized some time ago that I pictured Robb, Bran, and Arya Stark as the actors who portrayed Pater, Edmund, and Lucy in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was totally subconscious until I saw the Narnia movie again. I realized I must have read A Game of Thrones shortly after seeing Narnia for the first time.

[pseudoidiot]

Some news, from George R.R. Martin's blog yesterday.

HBO has given the production order.

They will be filming the pilot episode of A GAME OF THRONES.

It's just the pilot so far. They'll need to see that before they decide whether to proceed with a full season's episodes. So let's all hope the pilot will kick serious ass.

It should. David Benioff and Dan Weiss did a terrific job with the script. And yes, all of you can relax, it's very faithful. Dan and David will be the executive producers for the pilot and (we hope) the eventual series.

More details when I have 'em. The news is very fresh. HBO just issued their own press release, which should be up on their website soon, if it's not there already.

Winter is coming to HBO. Hot damn.

[Mzyxptlk]

My experiences with LoTR and others have taught me that movie or tv adaptations almost always ruin the books. My mental picture of LoTR was turned around completely by the movies, and though I read the books several times before seeing the movies, I've never reread them since. Because I enjoy reading books more than I do watching movies or tv series, I will do everything I can to stay away from this.

[mosc]

I disagree, I really really like LOTR and I really really liked the fellowship movie. The second and third film I felt got a little pompass.

That could be special to the lord of the rings though over most other books as the two most famous Tolkien illustrators, two guys who make CAREERS off of drawing things from those books, BOTH were basically in charge of the design of every set piece. I mean, the front door of bilbo's house is straight out of their work, as is Isengard, etc. That really really helped me not get mad. Also, the casting was fine.

GRRM's background is more in TV anyway. I think this has a better chance as a TV series than as a movie. I guess they could do ~9 1hr episodes a season each corresponding to a book. Course, he'd actually have to finish 5-7 in the next few years. If HBO is smart, they'll be very faithful. Once they do the "real" story, they've basically got themselves a franchise they can do lots of spin-offs on with far more open potential.

[0range]

Personally, I think that in regards to casting, I would prefer talented no-names for most of the lead roles, but a few good fits, at least with my mental imagery:

Commander Mormont or Gregor Clegane: Brian Blessed
The Hound: Colin Farrell
Ned Stark: Liam Neeson
Littlefinger: Kenneth Branagh
Oberyn Martell: Bruce Campbell (what?)

[mosc]

It's going to be carried by no-names anyway. Most of the leads are kids. How many actors under 16 can you name?

[Ledah]

Ahah, those books are full of sex, gore, rape, torture, etc. Probably we'll get a nice comfy world where all the people are friends so that the series can make it on prime time and be watched by the whole family

[pseudoidiot]

...except that it'll be on HBO.

[darktan]

What kind of gets me about movie/tv adaptations is that I already know the story, so why would I want to see the same story again, simply told in a different format?

I already know that:

Spoiler:

Jaime throws Bran off a tower, that Cersei and Jaime are doing it behind everyone's backs, that Ned bites it in the end.

So in terms of plot, this is going to be pretty boring, for me at least.
I guess what will sell it to me is how well they can bring the characters to life, which I think is going to be pretty hard to do.

I'd be especially interested in who plays Joffrey.
I have to think, who would be the best person to play a smug little shit with an inflated ego?

[Jack Saladin]

Ahah, those books are full of sex, gore, rape, torture, etc. Probably we'll get a nice comfy world where all the people are friends so that the series can make it on prime time and be watched by the whole family

... Somebody's never watched HBO. Heard of The Sopranos?

Never read the books, never will, can't be fucked. Might be able to at least experience the plot this way if the series turns out any good.

[Amarantha]

Pilot starts filming in October.

[Vellyr]

The director has been contracted for the pilot, also one very unsurprising casting choice has been made.

[0range]

The director has been contracted for the pilot, also one very unsurprising casting choice has been made.

Sweet! Great choice! Now we just need to send Brian Blessed and Liam Neeson back in a time machine to play Robert and Ned.

[Teres]

The director has been contracted for the pilot, also one very unsurprising casting choice has been made.

Sweet! Great choice! Now we just need to send Brian Blessed and Liam Neeson back in a time machine to play Robert and Ned.

The awesomeness of Brian Blessed as Robert would rend the fabric of the universe. I suppose Brian Dennehy or Brendan Gleeson would be acceptable as well.

[Amarantha]

The Westoros forum has casting threads here:
http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showforum=25
which apparently the producers are reading for ideas. So feel free to add anyone you think would be good - you never know, it just might help

[Vellyr]

They've got Sean Bean (Boromir) signed to play Ned

Also, Jon, Joffrey, Viserys, and Robert have been cast, but nobody quite as famous in there

http://grrm.livejournal.com/95840.html

[Mavas]

Upon reading this thread, I jizzed my pants a little. My closet nerd is flipping shit.

[Amarantha]

Casting complete (for the pilot, anyway).

I think they've done a pretty good job Filming starts on October 24th.

[Azrael001]

I agree that the casting is good. I don't vehemently disagree with any of the picks.

[Princess Marzipan]

It's going to be weird transition from Lena Headey as total fuck yeah badass to Lena Headey as oh god I hate that cunt.

[Spacemilk]

I love the job they did on casting, looks very good to me. I particularly like the choice for King Robert; Mark Addy is perfect. And it looks like the girls chosen to play Sansa and Anya actually do look alike, except for the hair color. Anyone else think that? (check out the spoiler for larger, better quality images of the ones from the article)

Spoiler:

Richard Madden is going to be quite sexy as Rob Stark. I'm not going to like simultaneously hating and lusting for Jaime.

[Midnight]

neoloidogical Ne-craw-mun-cee, batman!

Who else thinks it's sad that the green light happened like 11 months ago.. at least, that's when Martin's blog said "s' been greenlit!"?

Still, I'm psyched with a P. Joffery's picture makes him look really young. Like, I mean, his character is a whiny bitch, but the kid looks like more whiny-bitch than he should be.

[The Utilitarian]

Man I am so stoked for this series. Almost as stoked as I am for... him to finish the last two freaking books! >_<

But seriously. I hope this does well. I'm actually extremely curious who they'd cast for some of the later characters like Brienne of Tarth.

I have to say I'd always pictured older people when I thought of Jon and Robb, maybe that's just my imagination though, I suppose they are fairly young in years.

[Amarantha]

And it looks like the girls chosen to play Sansa and Anya actually do look alike, except for the hair color.

Except Sansa and Arya are not supposed to look alike Sansa got the Tully genes and Arya the Stark ones. But I've seen other pics of the actresses, and they're not allllll that similar.

[Vellyr]

Who else thinks it's sad that the green light happened like 11 months ago.. at least, that's when Martin's blog said "s' been greenlit!"?

Actually, the green light happened today

http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/03/hbo-gree ... ones-.html

The network optioning the franchise happened like 11 months ago. Now we just have to wait a year for them to finish filming it!

[pseudoidiot]

Anyone know if HBO sells current seasons on iTunes? Or do they normally wait until a season is finished before releasing it? I badly want to watch this when it starts, but there's nothing else on HBO I'm interested in, so paying for a subscription would feel like a waste.

[Robstickle]

I have to say I'd always pictured older people when I thought of Jon and Robb, maybe that's just my imagination though, I suppose they are fairly young in years.

Weirdly enough they've actually gone and made the children older than they are in the books, probably to avoid issues like

Spoiler:

Daenerys and all her 13 year old sex.

[The Utilitarian]

Well yea there are some unfortunately incompatable thems with modern sensibilities there. I really didn't mind them reading the books but I know my girlfriend couldn't get through the second one just because of some of those themes. I can see how they'd want to be careful making it into a tv series.

[Subdivisions]

I'm pleased to hear Sean Bean (Sharpe, Boromir in LOTR) is playing Ed Stark, as I think he'll play the role brilliantly.
It's just a shame that

Spoiler:

he won't survive beyond the first season.

I too am really excited about the series, I've only started reading the books in the last few months, and have found them brilliant thus far. I just hope the series manages to live up to my expectations! But I'm certainly pleased with the casting, so fingers crossed everything will come together well.

[Amarantha]

Casting announcements having been coming in waves over the last few weeks, and HBO has just sent out a fact sheet with all the cast so far. Principal photography begins inna week. There are too many announcements to summarise, and the HBO note is too long to post, so I'll just point anyone interested to the sites I follow:
Martin's "Not a Blog"
Winter is Coming Blog

[cv4]

I have to say I'd always pictured older people when I thought of Jon and Robb, maybe that's just my imagination though, I suppose they are fairly young in years.

Weirdly enough they've actually gone and made the children older than they are in the books, probably to avoid issues like

Spoiler:

Daenerys and all her 13 year old sex.

I have to agree with those that said they picture most of the characters as being older. I have only just finished Storm of Swords, but I always think of Sansa as 16ish, not 13 and Jon and Robb as 18-19, not 16. Pretty much every character as 3 or so years older than they actually are.

[Midnight]

really? Cause when he says, in the books, that they're whatever age... imagined them as that age.
except maybe daenerys. to avoid the squick.

[shockwave_9345]

The way grrm is going the tv series will probably finish before he is done with the novels. I still love the idea of a series though, hopefully they make it last unlike Rome.