German CGI artist Martin Gruber has completed a short rendered film inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire, as part of a graduate dissertation. We’ve notied the site last year when it just had some visualizations and concept art, but now Martin has placed the entire film, focusing on the Wall and the Night’s Watch, up on his site. Appropriately enough, it’s called The Wall.
Hat tip to Winter is Coming for pointing out that the film was completed! Definitely recommend fans go and see it. Martin is also the source of a popular fan-made trailer for A Song of Ice and Fire, which can be seen on his site.
David Benioff and D.B Weiss, executive producers of HBO’s pilot for Game of Thrones, have once again dropped by the A Song of Ice and Fire forum to leave a message to the fans. They thank everyone for their casting suggestions, and mention a lot of great roles that they hope they’ll be asked to cast for in the future if the show gets greenlit (Renly, Varys, Ser Ilyn Payne, Littlefinger are the ones cited).
They leave off with, “And now to figure out George’s Stan Lee moment…,” which confirms what we’ve heard from a source close to the production: George R.R. Martin will have a cameo in the pilot. This will not be his first television appearance, as he twice had a cameo role in the TV show Beauty and the Beast, which he was a writer and producer on.
Nicole LaPorte of The Daily Beast has an article on the buzz over Game of Thrones, saying it has the potential to be the next “nerd obsession”. It includes brief remarks from GRRM, who was interviewed for the piece.
While GRRM is flying to the U.K. tomorrow for the pilot shoot (and the signings we’ve reported on earlier), he reports that there’ll be “some cool news” at this weekend’s MileHiCon SF convention in Denver, Colorado. Could it be TV show related? Has renowned genre artist John Picacio agreed to illustrate the 2011 Ice and Fire calendar GRRM has hoped to get set up with a new publisher? Only those who attend will know, it seems.
If you are attending, keep your ears open, and please do share whatever the news is!
According to a contact at the Clanranald Trust (who took time out of their busy schedule, as they’re on-location filming The Eagle of the Ninth), they confirm our earlier report of their “Combat International” fight team being involved in the production of HBO’s pilot of Game of Thrones. However, they note that their team is not going to be involved in any fight scenes, and will instead be more like extras, filling some of the roles of guards. They do hope that their services will be used again if the show goes to series, however.
James Poniewozik of Time.com weighs in on the buzz around HBO’s production of Game of Thrones, and like James Hibbard thinks that that HBO’s greenlighting the pilot suggests a certain level of confidence that it will go to series. He notes that he has no insider-knowledge to go on, simply an educated observation given his experience with the industry and knowledge of HBO’s past productions.
Though he’s late for the party, GRRM explains some of the clues he left for eager fans concerning casting of some of the final roles. All the actors were guessed in short order, and HBO has already confirmed all of them.
On top of the November 3 and November 5 signing dates in Belfast and Dublin respectively, GRRM now provides an opportunity for fans to get books signed in London at the Forbidden Planet megastore. The event is planned for November 11 at 17.30. The signing is primarily to celebrate the launch of HarperCollins Voyager’s edition of Songs of the Dying Earth, but GRRM will sign his other books for those who bring them (or purchase them at the store). There’s also the possibility of ordering signed copies over the internet from the store.
Jay Tomio at BSC Review confirms a number of speculated castings with HBO: “Joseph Mawle is Benjen Stark, Ron Donachie is Ser Rodrik Cassel, Donald Sumpter is Maester Luwin, and Ian McNeice is Ilyrio Mopatis”. All of these have been previously guessed based on GRRM’s clues, but it’s the first time that HBO has confirmed them. As the HBO source notes, these are relatively minor roles when compared to the leads, but it’s certainly good to have them made official.
Paul Gude, a fixture over at Winter is Coming, has helped Esmé Bianco (cast as Ros, a prostitute) create a facebook page, and has now shared an interview with her. She discusses her career as a model, singer, and actress, and of course discusses her role in the pilot for Game of Thrones. She mentions that pretty much the entire cast performed a read-through recently, and that the cast was buzzing about the experience after finising the read-through.
Following our report on the casting of Myrcella, we should mention that such roles seem to be considered extras, or featured extras, and that there is a potential for them to be recast if the show is greenlit. At this past weekend’s Valleycon in Fargo, fans had a chance to interact with George R.R. Martin. A report from a member of the A Song of Ice and Fire forum reveals what GRRM had to say about non-speaking roles:
He says the same is the case for a number of minor Winterfell characters that are seen but have no lines, and it would simply not be possible to reshoot all the scenes, so there would definitely be differences in cast between the first and second episodes. So the Tommen in the pilot will not be the Tommen in the series. They might go back and reshoot the Tommen scene, or they might not. But the same thing applies to a lot of the Winterfell minor characters that we see but don’t hear. And with so many, it will not be possible to reshoot all of the scenes. Sharp eyes might catch this. Most people won’t.
While all major speaking roles have now been cast, a number of non-speaking extras or “featured extras” (as GRRM termed them) still seem a bit nebulous. It appears one of these has been filled today, however. According to a tweet from BreakParrGolf, his daughter Aimee has been cast in the role of Myrcella. Following his website link, it seems that the young lady that slaps him around a bit in his promotional golfing video is his daughter. The 2 minute mark gives the clearest picture of her.
James Hibbard of The Hollywood Reporter posts a cast list for Game of Thrones, based on what has been confirmed or has been all-but-confirmed. In the course of it, he notes that the high level of buzz is unusual, and also suggests that this sort of sprawling, costly production doesn’t go to pilot production unless the network is “pretty confident” that it will go to series.
Thanks to Alister Black, we have some photos from Scotland’s Doune Castle, where we’ve recently learned that some scenes for Game of Thrones will be shot. Among the pictures is this one, which Alister explains shows members of the crew preparing for filming.
By the looks of it, the focus of their work is within the confines of the castle, possibly making use of the courtyard as a stand-in for one of Winterfell’s yards. This would fit the report of Louie Pastore, who indicates he will be a Lannister guard as part of the fight team that the Clanranald Trust is providing for the shoot. It may be that Lannister guards and others will be seen sparring in the background of some scene which is supposed to take place at the castle of Winterfell. It should be remembered, however, that extensive sets are being built in Belfast’s Paint Hall studio, and that primary filming will take place there.
Shooting for HBO’s pilot for the proposed adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire bestselling fantasy series commences on the 24th. A recent tweet from Esmé Bianco shows that rehearsals are now well under way in the run up.
Intrepid TV critic Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune has confirmed with HBO that Jason Momoa has been cast as Khal Drogo. Momoa, best known for his role as Ronan Dex in Stargate: Atlantis, was a favorite choice among fans of the series when they discussed who should be cast. The character of Drogo is a barbaric warlord who marries the beautiful Daenerys Targaryen, an exiled princess who is one of the central characters of the A Song of Ice and Fire.
Shooting on HBO’s pilot begins October 24th, with shooting locations in Scotland, Ireland, and Morocco.