"A Game of Thrones" Spoiler-Ridden Catch-All of Doom - books and HBO show

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SPOILARZ AHOY!

IMAGE(http://www.automopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bigspoiler.jpg)

Variety article

OH. MY. LORD.

[Independence Day insane Vietnam Vet]
I been sayin' it! I been sayin' it fer thirty years! And nobody believed me!
[/Independence Day insane Vietnam Vet]

I've been saying that Martin's books would make for a fantastic tv maxi-series on a network like HBO or Showtime where they don't have to pull any punches. I'm thrilled to see this come true!

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June 20th, 2011 Update

Ok, the show's first season has come and gone, and I'm converting this to the spoiler-ridden catch-all thread so we can continue discussions as the release of A Dance With Dragons looms near. There's a separate thread for discussing the tv show with none-to-minimal book spoilers (and certainly nothing spoiling what comes later on). If you're reading this thread, BE WARNED: Everything is fair game.

Hell, I plan to go on hiatus from the thread myself once ADWD is out until I finish the book.

Now if only he finishes the damned the series before he dies...

Beat me to it. I'm hoping that they use the people that did Rome to do the production.

Very interesting. What REALLY interests me is - how many episodes will it take to tell the entire, as-yet-unfinished thing? It's not worth doing only part.

Still, AWESOME news. When's the next book come out?

Wow, that could be really badass.

Holy hell, this is really good news! Given that HBO has been putting out some intelligent and solid TV in the last few years, this has definite potential!

Damn if/when this actually comes out, I might have to finally get HBO. So how many episodes do you forsee, and how long for each one. I know they say a season worth, but that number is not very stable since some shows have 22 shows a season and other have closer to 28. I'm guessing a full hour show and at least 25 per season. As the final book (the seventh) is scheduled for 2011, they shouldn't have a problem with overlap.

What scares me is this: I assume that Tombstone and Rome have broader appeal than Martin, and they couldn't stay on the air with HBO. They really need to do the whole thing (hooray!) or not at all (boo!).

Fedaykin98 wrote:

What scares me is this: I assume that Tombstone and Rome have broader appeal than Martin, and they couldn't stay on the air with HBO. They really need to do the whole thing (hooray!) or not at all (boo!).

Don't forget Carnivale, originally planned as a six-year run and cancelled in its second season with about as many plot lines dangling as Martin's novels. At least Deadwood is getting a chance to wrap up its series this year with two two-hour episodes.

Zaque wrote:

Damn if/when this actually comes out, I might have to finally get HBO. So how many episodes do you forsee, and how long for each one. I know they say a season worth, but that number is not very stable since some shows have 22 shows a season and other have closer to 28. I'm guessing a full hour show and at least 25 per season. As the final book (the seventh) is scheduled for 2011, they shouldn't have a problem with overlap.

HBO's season is usually only 12 hour-long episodes. My guess is they'd try to do a book a season.

I'm hoping that with the right marketing and a well-done production, this could hit a big appeal with the mainstream audience hankering for something new in the vein of Lord of the Rings; basically epic, well-done fantasy with a strong human element.

I have concerns about if the series will last or not, but I will subscribe to HBO just for this, and will write them to tell them as much. If everyone who wants to see the show succeed does that, its chances of lasting are higher.

I'm more concerned that Martin is going to croak before he finishes the freaking books, personally.

Martin's books are long, but 12 hours per should be enough at least do them justice, if not tell every little detail as it was in the books.

My problem is: Would you want to? Given unlimited time and resources, I think you'd still need to change the books to work on film, just in terms of pacing and whatnot.

Farscry wrote:

. . . this could hit a big appeal with the mainstream audience hankering for something new in the vein of Lord of the Rings; basically epic, well-done fantasy with a strong human element.

I think they'd do better targeting the SF/Fantasy market and keeping the production budget as low as possible, but I haven't read the books. With LOTR, they had 40-50 years worth of fandom built up just waiting for the film to release and a much bigger budget than this will have. If HBO pours money into the project and they don't get a huge audience, they'll cut their losses very quickly.

Morrolan wrote:

Martin's books are long, but 12 hours per should be enough at least do them justice, if not tell every little detail as it was in the books.

My problem is: Would you want to? Given unlimited time and resources, I think you'd still need to change the books to work on film, just in terms of pacing and whatnot.

Agreed. All three books (or six for you sticklers) of LotR was told in ten hours.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

What scares me is this: I assume that Tombstone and Rome have broader appeal than Martin, and they couldn't stay on the air with HBO. They really need to do the whole thing (hooray!) or not at all (boo!).

Wait, when did Rome get cancelled? I thought it was going for another season?

PyromanFO wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

What scares me is this: I assume that Tombstone and Rome have broader appeal than Martin, and they couldn't stay on the air with HBO. They really need to do the whole thing (hooray!) or not at all (boo!).

Wait, when did Rome get cancelled? I thought it was going for another season?

Well, here's what Wikipedia says:

After the broadcast of only three episodes, HBO announced plans to produce a second season of Rome in 2006 for release in March 2007.[5] Subsequently in a news conference HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht confirmed that Rome season two would air on HBO in January 2007, but would not return for a third season.[6]. Most speculation for the early denial of a third season appears to center on the series' staggering costs, although neither Albrecht, cast members, or any HBO representative will comment on this speculation. The second season premiered January 14, 2007 in the US.

You be the judge.

The trouble with HBO doing Rome was that they want it to be luscious and filled with sets and scenes that are expensive to produce. The BBC made its successful "I Claudius" series back in the 1970s for a budget that was probably in the range of $10 per episode, but almost all of it happened indoors. You'd see a character looking out onto, say, the Senate floor, you'd hear senators shouting, but you'd never actually see the Senate. You never saw anyone fighting a battle, and if soldiers were involved in the plot you'd see them in a tent.

They probably would have loved to do more, but they probably went in with the attitude the the audience for a Roman-based family drama centering on sex, politics and betrayal was significant but still limited.

Did Deadwood get cancelled or is is only supposed to be a 3 season event (writers able to wrap up story lines?)

The X-files went on for about 2-3 seasons longer than it should have, and Lost producers are wary of not following the same path (as per internet articles recently).

I would venture to say that the Sopranos luster wore off for me after season 3 (though I haven't seen any season 5 or 6 yet, season 4 came close to jumping the shark imo).

Along the same vein as Preacher, the HBO 18+hours along with unedited content is the perfect medium for the GRRM novels. I hope this is done right, because I would also LOVE it. And potentially even subscribe to HBO for it.

Sub-question-
How long does it take for studios to realize DVD popularity? I have bought a number of TV series on DVD well after they have aired (Sopranos, Lost, Band of Brothers, Deadwood, BSG) and sometimes cancelled (BBC's The Office, Firefly). So it makes one wonder how large of an audience there is that do not impact the on-the-air ratings that forces the cancellation of these shows. Maybe IPTV will be the solution?

This is awesome. My thinking is that even if it's bad, it's gonna be good. Just a fantasy series on HBO would be awesome, much less Martin's characters and story lines.

Morrolan wrote:

Martin's books are long, but 12 hours per should be enough at least do them justice, if not tell every little detail as it was in the books.

My problem is: Would you want to? Given unlimited time and resources, I think you'd still need to change the books to work on film, just in terms of pacing and whatnot.

Jackson did about as good of a job as anyone converting books to movies, but you're right, he did chop a lot of detail out of the movies.

GRRM wrote:

They tried for 50 years to make 'Lord of the Rings' as one movie before Peter Jackson found success making three. My books are bigger and more complicated, and would require 18 movies. Otherwise, you'd have to choose one or two characters.

If they did Song of Fire and Ice right, Martin sees the need for 27-54 hours (assuming 1.5 hr-3 hr per movie)

That's be in a 2-4 seasons ballpark, which seems doable...

RichyRambo wrote:

Now if only he finishes the damned the series before he dies...

You're not confusing GRRM with Robert Jordan are you? Or is GRRM experience health problems as well (that I don't know about)?

(Hopefully it's just a pithy comment about the length of time in between published novels...)

Wow, I just started reading this series yesterday. I'm 30 pages in to A Game of Thrones.....so yeah. They'd better not screw up the first 30 pages.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

What scares me is this: I assume that Tombstone and Rome have broader appeal than Martin, and they couldn't stay on the air with HBO. They really need to do the whole thing (hooray!) or not at all (boo!).

Wait, when did Rome get cancelled? I thought it was going for another season?

Well, here's what Wikipedia says:

After the broadcast of only three episodes, HBO announced plans to produce a second season of Rome in 2006 for release in March 2007.[5] Subsequently in a news conference HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht confirmed that Rome season two would air on HBO in January 2007, but would not return for a third season.[6]. Most speculation for the early denial of a third season appears to center on the series' staggering costs, although neither Albrecht, cast members, or any HBO representative will comment on this speculation. The second season premiered January 14, 2007 in the US.

You be the judge.

Hmm, well hopefully Season 2 actually ends the series on a finished note. I also didn't know it premiered this weekend! Damn I wish I had HBO sometimes.

Holy. sh*t.

(Hopefully it's just a pithy comment about the length of time in between published novels...)

I think thats mostly it, though its well deserved seeing what Feast for Crows has turned into

I don't want to have to buy HBO. But I will. Oh yes, I will.

ColdForged wrote:

I don't want to have to buy HBO. But I will. Oh yes, I will.

yeah I just had that conversation with the wife...luckily she is right on board

Wow... HarryPotter can kiss my @$$, Id much rather have this in video form (unless they mess it up of course). But I agree with Richy, hopefully he finishes the damn story because the last one didnt close anything out, just opened up a ton more backstory.

PAR

I'm a little bit into the 3rd book and I'm enjoying the series. This is great news.

Awesome. Rome is my favorite series running right now, if SoI&F has the same production values I'll be all over it.

First Preacher and now this? When did HBO turn cool?

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