Nerdgasm Alert: HBO has ordered 10 episodes of the fantasy television series based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is probably my favorite series of fantasy books that doesn’t have Ring or Wheel in the title. The gritty low-magic setting throws the reader so many loops and plot twists that it forces you to race to the end of the book. Martin is a former TV writer (Beauty and the Beast) and his skill at crafting cliffhangers translates easily to the network that brought us The Sopranos and The Wire. HBO ordered a pilot to be made last year and filming took place in Europe and Africa after assembling a crack cast with the likes of Sean Bean (LOTR) and Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent). Based on the strength of that pilot, HBO has decided to order a full first season of 10 episodes (including the pilot). Filming will begin in Belfast, Ireland this June.
Sean Bean plays Eddard Stark, who is asked to take the position of the Hand of The King for his friend Robert Baratheon. Stark reluctantly takes the job and relocates his family from Winterfell castle in the North to the seat of the Seven Kingdoms, King’s Landing. The Stark family, from dutiful wife Catelyn and impetuous Robb to tomboy Arya and princess Sansa, are noble islands in a sea of intrigue which includes the king’s wife, Cersei Lannister and her brothers, the great knight Jaime and the dwarf Tyrion (played by the Dink). There’s a whole slew of subplots involving dragons and supernatural Others on the other side of an ancient wall, but it’s just too huge to explain it all. Suffice to say, it is awesome and thankfully doesn’t swing too far on the fantasy spectrum.
The plan is for the first season to encompass the events of the first book in the series, with the finale ending on the same cliffhanger. If that’s the case, then you are all in for a great ride.
Winter is Coming!
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Published: Mar 2, 2010 11:19 pm