Thanks to Blue Rose, we’ve a fasicnating account of some details surrounding the HBO pilot. Chief among them are the leaks concerning actors cast in roles, which appear to largely have been against HBO’s wishes, as well as some thoughts on the prospects of the series, the effect HBO’s going forward might have on book sales, and the difficulty of casting so many series regulars for a pilot episode for a series where characters might go a whole season unused.
That HBO is no vehement about the leaks is certainly very interesting. Some have noticed of late that actor announcements seem to be part of press releases, given the timing of their release. However, it now seems possible that the information is leaking out and so HBO hurries with a press release to at least put their official stamp on the news. The leakers seem to be playing a dangerous game, according to what Parris recounts. On the other hand, Blue Rose’s speculation that this shows the seriousness of HBO’s support for the production is heartening, and the impact a successful first season could have on A Song of Ice and Fire is potentially enormous.
This, and other reports from Worldcon, will soon be added to the So Spake Martin collection of correspondence, convention reports, interviews, and so on.