GRRM Not a Blog "lots of other exciting news"

[The Anti-Targ]

There's lots of other exciting news on the pilot as well, but nothing I can share. Sorry, lips are sealed. You'll have to wait for Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss... and HBO.

Right, so since that was at the end of his Northern Ireland/Paint Hall is the location and filming to begin in October news, there are only really 3 things that can be particularly exciting IMO:

1. HBO have picked up the show for a full season

2. Some A / A- list actors have been signed for the pilot (I'm looking at you Dinklage!)

3. Avery Clarke has been cast as Theon or Viserys and he's not telling us.

Any other things that one would call exciting news wrt the pilot?

I guess a bit of personal excitement would be that he or Parris have secured some cameo appearances, but I'm sure George could demand that anyway (if he was so inclined) and I almost expect him to be having us play where's Wally, so this is not so exciting for me.

[Paxter]

2. Some A / A- list actors have been signed for the pilot (I'm looking at you Dinklage!)

I'm pretty sure it's this. Given that they're filming around October, quite a lot of the casting would have already been done by now. So GRRM is probably excited about some of the actors that have been signed. Hopefully Dave and Dan can give us the low-down some time in May/June.

[daimonion]

You might be reading too much into it. Its just so common to attach "exiting" to any news. "There will be more news" would just seem a little lame.

[Ran]

It would be casting information and/or selection of a director.

[The Anti-Targ]

Yes a director being hired would be exciting news for GRRM, and if he/she is a well known/respected director it would be exciting for us too.

[Frank Stark]

Hopefully Dave and Dan can give us the low-down some time in May/June.

Yikes! Would we really have to wait this long? I guess this could include announcements in a few days, but it could also mean 6-8 weeks from now. Surely SOME of the casting has been done by now? Will they wait till they have all the major parts cast?

Maybe they'll announce 1 cast member per day, stretching out my excitement. Once the casting news comes out, unless they release production photos (seems very unlikely for a pilot) I won't have any ASOIAF related excitement for months, maybe not until the possible series pickup sometime next year.

[Halfhand]

Using Boardwalk Empire as a guide, the first casting news for that pilot came out almost exactly 6 months prior to when filming was scheduled to begin. The casting announcements continued for the next 2 months or so.

I suspect it will be much the same for Thrones. Which means the first casting news should be hitting soon, especially now that David seems to be done his book tour and they've nailed down a location and a specific time frame for shooting. We should get a relatively steady stream of casting announcements over the next couple of months.

I also doubt that they have had any roles officially cast as of yet, although I imagine that they have narrowed down the choices for most roles and are probably in negotiations with specific actors for a few others. I think that generally, once an actor officially signs on to a project, it is made known. Especially for the bigger roles, which are likely to be cast first.

[Brude]

1. HBO have picked up the show for a full season

2. Some A / A- list actors have been signed for the pilot (I'm looking at you Dinklage!)

3. Avery Clarke has been cast as Theon or Viserys and he's not telling us.

I'm sure it's #2, though I doubt it will be an A-list actors. A-list actors are Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts or George Clooney and the like, there are usually only a dozen or so at any given time. I seriously doubt someone on that level will be doing the show. No film actor who makes $20 million a picture is going to want to work for 7 years for relative peanuts, even if the show is as good as this could be.

You could easily see an A- list director putting in some work on the first few episodes. In return he'd likely get a producing credit as well. This would be like Michael Apted who directed the first several episodes of "Rome."

P.S. - I too hate cilantro, Anti-Targ.

[Venardhi]

I'm hoping it is "I did a rewrite on the script." or "The leaked script was a fake."

[Brude]

I'm hoping it is "I did a rewrite on the script." or "The leaked script was a fake."

I'm pretty sure the leaked script was a first draft. It reads like one. For what it was, assuming that's what it was, it's good. Scripts change a lot in the process. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[The Kreb]

That Avery Clark news would be "exciting" in that I'd jump from my seat screaming "NOOOOOOOO!". Otherwise, I'd welcome all those mentioned possibilities.

[moirne]

I'm pretty sure the leaked script was a first draft. It reads like one. For what it was, assuming that's what it was, it's good. Scripts change a lot in the process. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

True, the script will be changed. I'm hoping it was leaked to get the fans opinion on it, that way they know what doesn't work as well. I would be disappointed if that was a fake script.

[The Anti-Targ]

True, the script will be changed. I'm hoping it was leaked to get the fans opinion on it, that way they know what doesn't work as well. I would be disappointed if that was a fake script.

I hope that was a joke. The worst possible thing to do would be to leak a script with the intention of seeing what the fans think. Then base script decisions on what might and might not work on the fans' reactions.

Other than the few fans who have decent experience in the field, what we think will work on screen isn't worth knowing. And too much of the fan opinion is focussed on departures and alterations from the book.

The Kreb: You are marked for assassination. :ninja:

Brude: I enjoyed reading your haikus

[The Kreb]

I'm sure he's a swell guy and all, but I can't stand his acting. I know I'm not alone.

[moirne]

I hope that was a joke. The worst possible thing to do would be to leak a script with the intention of seeing what the fans think. Then base script decisions on what might and might not work on the fans' reactions.

Other than the few fans who have decent experience in the field, what we think will work on screen isn't worth knowing. And too much of the fan opinion is focussed on departures and alterations from the book.

No it wasn't a joke. It's important to get fan feedback. Obviously some opinions on the script were nit picking, but a lot of them are valid points. If it's a rough draft, why not leak it and see what kind of reception it receives? I'm not saying they are going to change everything that the fans bitch about. We all understand that they can't be completely true to the books and that the professionals will do what they think works best. It's still important to get the fan perspective though (since we're the ones who will be watching).

[The Anti-Targ]

No it wasn't a joke. It's important to get fan feedback. Obviously some opinions on the script were nit picking, but a lot of them are valid points. If it's a rough draft, why not leak it and see what kind of reception it receives? I'm not saying they are going to change everything that the fans bitch about. We all understand that they can't be completely true to the books and that the professionals will do what they think works best. It's still important to get the fan perspective though (since we're the ones who will be watching).

Yes, but we're going to be watching it anyway, unless it's atrocious. And because we want it to succeed we are going to promote it by word of mouth, again unless it is atrocious. From what I heard of the script (I never read it myself) atrocious is not an adjective levelled against that script. Atrocious will come down to acting and directing quality.

We are not a big enough audience to make the show profitable. They need to attract a wider audience, and for the most part fan reaction to stuff that is different from the source material is not particularly helpful in appealing to the wider audience. If they like it, then that is no guarantee that the wider audience will get it. And if we don't like it then that is no guarantee of being a wider audience turn off.

It's nice to want to be faithful to the expectations of fans, but the value of it in terms of potential success of the series is pretty questionable.

[Brude]

No it wasn't a joke. It's important to get fan feedback.

They'd never do this, I'm pretty sure of it. There is simply no value in it for them. A development executive's job is to offer development notes and ideas - in fact this is a big part of how they 'make their bones' in the business. Leaking a script is tantamount to admitting defeat and failure at your job. Maybe different places have a different culture about such things, but in my experience it was pretty cutthroat at the studio/network level (much more than I ever wanted to have anything to do with). A lot of power politics and one never admits weakness. I remember my first boss once gave me a major dressing down because I said, "I don't know." He was actually trying to help me 'cause he knew I was new at the game. You see, you never admit you don't have an idea about something, even when you don't. That makes you useless to your bosses.

I can envision any number of ways a script could get out, the most likely way...interns. They often have a lot more access than you'd otherwise guess and are more likely to bend the rules on such things. Also, Dev. Execs do sneak scripts to friends, other Dev. Execs. and such, for various reasons. There's kind of a commerce in this: "Hey, wanna see the new Game of Thrones script?" "Sure, what do I gotta do?" "I want to see the Monday sneak you get from 'Such and Such Agency.' I pissed them off and they took me off their list and I don't want my boss to know I fucked up with them." Now the script is at another office and more interns, assistants, etc. are in the mix who might make a copy.

[moirne]

Anti-targ- I don't think the script is atrocious either. It's good enough certainly and should draw in viewers. Good point about book fans vs. the wider audience. Judging from the script, there seems to be a balance that will appeal to both groups. Benioff and Weiss do browse the forums though, so they must have an interest in the fans. And since the script has been leaked, they might as well read what we think of it.

Brude- thanks for the inside scoop on how a studio is run. It does make more sense for an intern to leak a script. Whoever did, I'm thankful to them ;)

[The Anti-Targ]

Yeah, I hate to bring up the book to movie adaptation that shall not be named for fear of threadjacking my own thread. But had a certain screenplay been subject to fan feedback before production, said movie would have been a yawnfest for anyone who is not a devoted fan of a certain book. Whereas said movie, although much maligned by many devotees, for its many and allegedly unnecessary departures from the hallowed source, and whose writer/director has been the object of much scorn and vilification by same, made pots of cash and got heaps of kudos from a great many personages of renown. The lesson being that even if some fans think a non-final script is yesterday's cat vomit in a sandwich, it does not necessarily equate to commercial failure.

[Brude]

As reported in the Dave & Dan thread in casting, the news is out. Peter Dinklage is Tyrion and Tom McCarthy who directed Tyrion in "The Station Agent" and also directed last years "The Visitor," for which Richard Jenkins received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, will be directing the pilot. (Fans of "The Wire" will also know McCarthy him as Scott Templeton, the dickwad reporter who invents stories from Season 5 of the show.)

At first I thought "what the?" when I read he was the director, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. The pilot is not an action piece, it's a drama piece and he is VERY good at directing drama.

I think his prior HBO connection probably helped him get the role, too.

The Hollywood Reporter story.