Westeros

During the weekend, news broke that SyFy Films (a joint venture of the SyFy Channel and Universal Studios) and had optioned theatrical and television rights to Wild Cards, the original shared-world superhero series concocted by George R.R. Martin and the Wild Cards Consortium of writers. We’ve done some digging, and we have a handful of additional details to share.

According to a press release, the second issue of Dynamite‘s George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones has sold out and has immediately gone into a second printing. This repeats the feat of the first issue, and given anedoctal reports, shows the high level of interest in the series.

Comic book fans and store owners have both noted via Twitter and Facebook that shops have been selling out, leaving some fans without any copies, so it looks like Dynamite has its work cut out for it when it comes to matching supply to demand. A few copies of various variant overs can be found, marked as high as $75, which either shows just how sought-after the comics are… or, perhaps, how avaracious comic book sellers can be; only time will tell!

For those who’d rather not bother with single issues, Bantam will be packaging the first six issues into the first volume of a graphic novel adaptation—presently the first novel is intended to be covered in twenty four issues, so that’ll be four collections over approximately two years.

G4, the gaming television channel, has jumped on-board with Game of Thrones mania. On Monday, their X-Play program featured a comedic spoof of the show, using various popular video game characters (e.g. Link and Zelda—or maybe his sister Aryll?—as incestuous Lannister-types). If you’re a fan of such spoofs, and somewhat broad comedy, it’s worth a watch.

(Favorite bit? The delivery of a message… by an Angry Bird.)

We’ve previously covered Mike the Pike Productions, who are developing George R.R. Martin‘s award-winning horror novella, “The Skin Trade” (found in Dreamsongs Volume 2, which also contains the first Dunk & Egg novella “The Hedge Knight”, set in Westeros, and many other excellent stories) for film. Now they’ve decided to ratchet up the visibility of the project by launching an official site.

The site offers hints as to the story and the production team currently in place, including noting that Filmworks FX—a post-production company that’s worked on Red Riding Hood, Knight and Day, The Tourist, and other Hollywood film projects—is on-board to handled VFX and is intimately involved at an unusually early stage in development.

Besides the official website, Mike the Pike Productions have also launched a Facebook Page—named Blackstone Manor, after a key location in the novella—which features news, updates, and the occasional query to readers. Right now, the page asks fans who they’d like to see direct The Skin Trade, and I’ve chimed in with British director Neil Marshall, who recently wrapped up filming on the penultimate episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones... and who first rose to the attention of horror fans thanks to his cult classic, Dog Soldiers.

The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reveals that Wild Cards had been optioned for development by Syfy Films—the theatrical division of the Syfy channel—and Universal Studios, with the screenplay set to be handled by there-from-the-start author Melinda Snodgrass, who (like GRRM) has TV writing experience.

We’ve been waiting for the first details about the Iceland leg of the filming of Game of Thrones, where scenes beyond the Wall will be shot… and it looks like we’ve finally got them.

Back in early September, the news swept the fandom that French/Canadian game company Cyanide Studios, creators of the real time strategy game Game of Thrones: Genesis and a then-untitled RPG based on A Song of Ice and Fire, had basically turned that RPG into the official HBO Game of Thrones game, with access to actors from the show (for voice acting), music, and more.

Dynamite Entertainment’s George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones continues! The second issue hits shelves tomorrow in the U.S., featuring art by Tommy F. Patterson and scripting by author Daniel Abraham.

The cover for this issue features more art by the famed Alex Ross featuring Tyrion Lannister, with a special incentive cover by fan-favorite Mike S. Miller that revisits his depiction of Robert fighting Rhaegar at the Trident.

You can find your nearest comic shop using Diamond’s Comic Shop Locator.

The increasingly social nature of the internet has begun to invade all aspects of life for many users of the internet, whether it’s watching TV shows communaly via Get Glue or Hulu, rating sporting events interactively while they’re going on, or forwarding and commenting news articles.

Now that invasion has gone a step forward, thanks to a company by the name of Subtext (link to the app in the iTunes store—US only presently) and check out the previews of thebooks they currently provide Subtext social features for… including A Game of Thrones, of course!

The Big Bang Theory featured Valyrian Steel’s Longclaw, presented there as being a replica of the sword from the TV series. Not long after,  the executive producer of BBT, Bill Prady, tweeted that the sword would now become a permanent part of the show’s set.

And now we can see it, in the very next episode, “The Rhinitis Revelation”. For those in the U.S., you can actually watch the video of the episode here, where the best glimpse of the sword—on the wall with its decorative heraldic crest featuring a white direwolf and the words “Winter is Coming”—can be seen at about the 6:30 mark. And for those who aren’t in the U.S., here’s a quick screen grab.

We’ve all been waiting for the first signs of the Game of Thrones first season DVD & Blu-Ray box set… and it seems to have arrived with strong suggestions that the discs will role out in at least several countries in March 2012, approximately 1 month before the premiere of season 2 of the series. First off, in the UK, the British Video Association notes a March 19 date for the release over there (UK Preoder: DVD, Blu-Ray). And France appears to be even luckier, with Warner Brothers France indicating a March 7th date—quick work!

What does this mean for the US? It really does seem that the ides of March, give or take a week, are what we should be looking at for the release of the DVD and Blu-Ray sets (US Preorder: DVD, Blu-Ray). We can be sure that there’ll be a lot of extras on the sets, including some audition tapes for actors, behind-the-scenes footage never seen before, and episode commentaries—and from what we’ve heard, that may just be the start!

An interesting interview at NY Magazine cropped up. It starts out discussing Game of Thrones—revealing for the first time that while Sean Bean may have been the first choice for Ned, the producers hedged their bets (probably due to uncertainty at the actor’s availabiity) by auditioning additional actors—but then shifts to some very interesting questions regarding A Dance with Dragons... particularly one bit in it which appears to have given Martin significant pause before he answered it. Hrm….

Well worth reading, and not just because Westeros.org and the in-progress World of Ice Fire world book are mentioned! Also, for those new to the site, this interview—and many, many others over the years—are linked at the So Spake Martin collection.

Two new opportunities for fans to show their appreciation for HBO’s Game of Thrones. First off, the People’s Choice Awards are currently canvassing for nominations… and everyone’s favorite fantasy drama is eligible in two categories: Favorite Sci-fi/Fantasy TV Show and Favorite Cable TV Drama. It looks like you can vote once every day, so make sure to mark your calendar.

And via GRRM, there’s also a TV Guide Poll to select which show will feature on the cover for the final, December issue of the magazine. Naturally, Game of Thrones is in contention. To vote, just “Like” the Facebook page and then you can put in your vote. There’s also a sweepstakes to win special Comic-Con covers of the magazine.

Everyone’s been talking about Salman Rushdie’s remarks in which he opines that The Wire “is just a police series” and that Game of Thrones is “well-produced trash” (hey, everyone’s got an opinion—but do read the whole interview, it’s an excellent conversation) ... but on a happier note, geek favorite actor Ron Perlman was interviewed at the Scream Awards by Access Hollywood’s Jolie Lash, and she got him to make some remarks on former Beauty and the Beast colleagues George R.R. Martin and new-to-Game of Thrones actor Roy Dotrice.

See the video below!

The SPIKE TV Scream Awards ceremony was filmed last night, to be televised on October 18th, but you don’t have to wait to hear the results. With voting open to the public, fans across the web urged others to make their vote heard… and it sure looks like it paid dividends, as the popular fan-given award gave nods to Game of Thrones not once, not twice, but ... uh, thrice!

With Sean Bean and Lena Headey in attendance for the production, actors Peter Dinklage added another award to his bookshelf for Best Supporting Actor (this curious image is described as Peter “speaking on stage”... which would be creepy!) and Emilia Clark won Breakout Female Performance. And then, the big one: HBO’s fantasy show beat out other genre productions such as The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, and True Blood for Best Television Show. Quite a coup!

If you have SPIKE TV, make sure to tune-in to watch the show!