Westeros

Well-timed to the season 7 premiere, Funko has prepared a slew of new toys in their popular Pop! figure line -- as well as some new entries in their Dorbz figures, and even two figures debuting in their Rock Candy range of figurines which are focused almost entirely on female heroines and characters of note (we say almost entirely because somehow Harry and Ron from the Harry Potter series managed their way into the line). You can see some of the new selections in the gallery below:

This is quite big news in relation to the future of Game of Thrones-related projects. While we’ve previously reported on the fact that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are stepping back in their involvement in future “successor” shows—they’ll have executive producer credits but won’t be involved in the day-to-day work and writing—it had been widely assumed they wanted to get away from TV and work on film; in fact, a few years ago they landed a deal to adapt a novel for movies.

So it’s with quite a lot of surprise that we learn that they are diving back into TV after Game of Thrones wraps up, and by diving we mean they’ll be showrunning and writing for this new original series, titled Confederate. According to the press release, posted below, it will begin production immediately following the final season of Game of Thrones.

Here’s the details:

Last year, Linda and I had the great privilege and pleasure of visiting Northern Ireland to look at the Game of Thrones doors scattered throughout the country, all thanks to Tourism Ireland. And this past weekend, we were able to tease that Tourism Ireland had something new up its sleeve to draw attention to Northern Ireland:

Since then, word’s gotten out about the absolutely stunning tapestry—inspired by the famous Bayeux Tapestry created to commemorate every episode of the last six seasons… and with additional panels to come as each new episode of season 7 is released. Fans visiting Belfast will be able to see the tapestry in all its glory at the Ulster Museum from July 22nd.

Here’s the full press release below:

We’re back from Madrid—you can see our talk at Espacio Fundacion Telefonica on Youtube—but while we were there, Linda managed to film her video for our Dragonstone episode guide. The guide also includes a book-to-screen section, using the new format used since the previous season, now that the material is beyond the scope of the novels.

You can see the video below:

Games have been a part of the A Song of Ice and Fire licensing universe for a long time, starting in 2002 with Fantasy Flight Games and their award-winning A Game of Thrones collectible card game, followed by their A Game of Thrones board game. Since then there have been two different RPGs, two different computer games, a tactical tabletop game—and that’s just counting the A Song of Ice and Fire games; Game of Thrones has led to yet another computer game, board games, and more.

After a bit of silence on the A Song of Ice and Fire gaming front, suddenly two exciting projects are advancing towards publication.

Update: We’re pleased to say that we’ve been invited by Casa del Libro to sign at their store at Gran Via 29 prior to the talk. The signing will be from 5pm to 6pm.

Linda and I will be speaking at Espacio Fundación Telefónica, who have kindly invited us with the collaboration of the Spanish publisher of A Song of Ice and Fire and our The World of Ice and Fire, Gigamesh, the organizers of the Celsius 232 convention, and streaming source of Game of Thrones in Spain Movistar+. A few years ago GRRM took part in a similar event.

Fans in Madrid can visit the event page for information regarding the time and details of the event, as well as reserving a free pass. For those who can’t make it, the website will stream the event live.

As always, we’re very much looking forward to visiting Spain. That said, since we’re traveling late Sunday evening, busy in Madrid on Monday, and traveling homeward on Tuesday, Linda’s coverage of the season premiere will likely be delayed and/or be briefer than normal.

HBO has sent out a press release discussing the imminent arrival of Game of Thrones on July 16th, including loglines and titles for the first three episodes. You can read them below, but naturally if you consider episode titles spoilers… well, these are spoilers:

Fans have flocked the world-over to past Game of Thrones exhibitions put together by HBO—we reported on one such exhibition—but there was a bit of a pause this last couple of years… until now, that is, as HBO has just announced that they are mounting a touring exhibition that will travel the world.

No specific dates or locations announced as of yet, but it will kick off in Europe starting Fall 2017. Read the full press release below:

The official 2018 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar will be hitting shelves in just two weeks. Our understanding is that they’ll be available as well at the Penguin Random House booth at San Diego’s Comic-Con International, as previous calendars have been.

This year’s calendar is illustrated by noted genre artist Eric Velhagen, who recently met George R.R. Martin in Santa Fe as Martin’s Jean Cocteau Cinema is showcasing some of Velhagen’s artwork. Only a couple of pieces have been publicly revealed so far, including the cover above, but make sure to take advantage of Amazon’s Look Inside feature to see a two more piece of art featuring an Other and everyone’s favorite pint-sized assassin.

For residents of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, HBO Nordic is offering the opportunity to win tickets to their premiere screenings of episode 1 of season 7. Make sure to read the details for each country carefully and keep in mind that you can only enter the competition for the country you are a resident of.

To enter on Twitter, simply follow us at @westerosorg and reply to our competition announcement tweet saying which premiere you’d like to attend. To enter on Facebook, like the Westeros page and reply to the competition announcement post there saying which premiere you’d like to attend. You can enter once on Twitter and once on Facebook; additional entry attempts will disqualify you.

The competition ends on the 10th of July at 12PM CET. Once we’ve drawn winners, we’ll get in touch if you’re chosen as a winner, so keep an eye on your messages in Facebook or replies or DMs on Twitter. Each winner will be able to bring a friend along with them.

Read below for full details of the screening locations, and good luck!

As has become annual tradition, HBO’s Game of Thrones will be appearing with a splash and a bevy of stars at San Diego’s Comic-Con International, taking the giant Hall H for a panel with many of the shows presently-surviving cast members. Here’s the full details straight from HBO:

Special guest from Westeros, eh? Wonder who that could be…

Last week we shared reports that an adaptation of Nightflyers—based on the rights to the film made in the 1980s based on George R.R. Martin’s award-winning SF horror novella—was in the works. Now The Wrap reports that SyFy has gone ahead and ordered a pilot to produced based on the script by Jeff Buhler.

As Martin has noted, his overall deal with HBO means he has no involvement in this adaptation, but it’s clear that Martin’s work is a hot property in Hollywood right now. In his most recent “Not a Blog” post, Martin provided an update on progress on a number of adaptations:

HBO has released a dramatic new trailer for the forthcoming second season of Game of Thrones. Very portentous. You can see it below:

Game of Thrones season 7 premieres in less than a month, on July 16th in the US.

Over at EW, James Hibberd spoke with the executive producers of Game of Thrones, who provided more details on the overall length of the season’s 7 episodes. The big news is that the final episode will be nearly 90 minutes long, with online leaks claiming an as-yet-unconfirmed 81 minute running length. The key quotes can be found below:

James Hibberd at EW has an intersting interview with Casey Bloys, HBO’s President of Programming, regarding the final seasons of Game of Thrones, the potential successor shows, and the involvement (or lack of same) of David Benioff and Dan Weiss in those last. Definitely read the full article, but below are a couple of choice quotes: