Tag: Game of Thrones

  • George R.R. Martin Confirms the ‘Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow Sequel Series

    Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO's 'Game of Thrones.'
    Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones.’

    There were ripples in ‘Game of Thrones’ fandom a few days ago when word emerged that a spin-off series about Kit Harrington’s Jon Snow character was in consideration at HBO. And, while he doesn’t always comment, ‘Thrones’ novelist George R.R. Martin has taken to his famous blog to confirm that the series is in the works.

    The sequel series, which had been rumored as far back as 2016, is, according to Martin, currently simply titled ‘Snow’ and has been in development almost as long as the other live-action ‘Thrones’ spin-offs (more on those below).

    “‘Snow’ has been in development almost as long as the other three, but for whatever reason it was never announced and it never leaked… until now,” says Martin.

    The writer (and ‘Thrones’ adaptation consultant) also commented on Emilia Clarke’s recent revelation during a TV interview that it was actually Harrington who had brought the concept to HBO. “He has told me about it,” Clarke told the BBC. “And I know it exists. It’s happening. It’s been created by Kit as far as I can understand, so he’s in it from the ground up. So what you will be watching, hopefully, if it happens, is certified by Kit Harington.” Though queried as to whether she’d be up for returning as Daenerys Targaryen, she replied, “No, I think I’m done.” Short of being revived in some fantastical fashion, Dany is done too, as she died at Snow’s hands during the ‘Thrones’ series finale.

    George R.R. Martin on the set of HBO's 'Game of Thrones.'
    George R.R. Martin on the set of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones.’

    “Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet, but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific,” Martin enthuses. “Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/consultants to hammer out the show.”

    While prequel ‘House of the Dragon’ – which touches down on HBO on August 21st – the other shows based around ‘Thrones’ are, according to Martin, still very much at the script stage and may not make it to screens. He also mentioned that he’s involved in some fashion in them all: ‘10,000 Ships’ (aka ‘Nymeria’) which has a showrunner in Amanda Segel, ‘9 Voyages’ (aka ‘The Sea Snake’) overseen by Bruno Heller, and ‘The Hedge Knight’, drawn from the ‘Dunk and Egg’ stories, run by Steve Conrad.

    There are also three animated prequel projects, including ‘The Golden Empire’, which is set in the China-inspired land of Yi Ti.

    Finally, Martin addressed his frustration that a recent print interview he gave about competition in the fantasy sphere was twisted by some outlets to make it sound like he wanted to “beat” incoming ‘Lord of the Rings’ prequel series ‘The Rings of Power’. “I expect I will be watching ‘Rings of Power’ when it premieres. I want it to be great. I want it to run for many years, to win Emmys and Golden Globes. And I want the same for ‘House of the Dragon’. Regardless of awards, I want both shows to find an appreciative audience, and give them great television. Great fantasy. The more fantasy hits we have, the more great fantasy we are likely to get.”

    Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO's 'Game of Thrones.'
    Kit Harington as Jon Snow on HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones.’
  • Latest ‘House of the Dragon’ Poster

    HBO Max's 'House of the Dragon.' Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.
    HBO Max’s ‘House of the Dragon.’ Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.

    Last month, we got our first proper look at HBO’s initial ‘Game of Thrones’ spin-off, prequel series ‘House of the Dragon’ via its first teaser. Aiming to keep the show in our minds (not that we needed too much prodding), HBO has now released a new poster, which puts Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra Targaryen front and center, backed by a dragon for good measure, since the series is not called ‘House of the Poodle.’

    ‘House of the Dragon’, like its progenitor, is also based on George R. R. Martin’s books, this time the 2018 novel ‘Fire & Blood’, which chronicled the history of House Targaryen, the family seen via Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Thrones’. The series itself comes from Martin, ‘Colony’ co-creator Ryan Condal and ‘Thrones’ show veteran Miguel Sapochnik, who is an executive producer and director.

    The setting here is 200 years before the events chronicled in the original show albeit with some very familiar jockeying for power.

    Paddy Considine stars as King Viserys Targaryen, chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy. But good men do not necessarily make for great kings.

    Matt Smith, most recently seen in ‘Morbius’, is Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon.

    Eve Best has the role of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, a dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Queen Who Never Was” was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male.

    HBO Max's 'House of the Dragon.' Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.
    HBO Max’s ‘House of the Dragon.’ Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.

    Rhys Ifans plays Otto Hightower. The Hand of the King, Ser Otto loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne.

    Olivia Cooke appears as Alicent Hightower, Otto’s daughter, and the most beautiful woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace… and a keen political acumen.

    D’Arcy’s Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the king’s first-born child, is of pure Valyrian blood, and a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man, which is a disadvantage in the patriarchal world of ‘Thrones’ and even more so in ‘Dragon’. We’ve a feeling she’ll still be powerful, though.

    Toussaint’s Velaryon is “The Sea Snake.” Lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. As the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world.

    Sonoya Mizuno plays Mysaria, who came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall. She could have wilted… but instead she rose to become the most trusted – and most unlikely – ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.

    If you’ve been anticipating more ‘Thrones’ action and got frustrated by the lack of forward progress on the spin-off front, ‘House of the Dragon’ should help fill that void.

    ‘House of the Dragon’ starts on HBO Max on August 21st.

    HBO Max's 'House of the Dragon.' Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.
    HBO Max’s ‘House of the Dragon.’ Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.
  • Theo James and Rose Leslie Talk ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’

    Theo James and Rose Leslie
    (L to R) Theo James and Rose Leslie in HBO Max’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’

    Premiering on HBO Max beginning May 15th is the new series ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife,’ which is based on the popular novel and movie of the same name.

    Created by Steven Moffat (‘Sherlock’) and directed by David Nutter (‘Game of Thrones’), the series centers on the marriage of Clare and Henry, which is complicated by Henry’s ability to time travel.

    The series stars Theo James (‘Divergent’) as Henry and Rose Leslie (‘Game of Thrones’) as Clare, as well as Desmin Borges (‘Tower Heist’), Jamie Ray Newman (‘The Punisher’), Kate Siegel (‘Midnight Mass’), Josh Stamberg (‘WandaVision’), and Michael Park (‘Dear Evan Hansen’).

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Theo James and Rose Leslie about their work on ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’

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    You can read our full interview with Theo James and Rose Leslie below or watch our interview by clicking on the video player above.

    Moviefone: To begin with, Theo can you explain how time travel works in this series and how it affects Henry’s life?

    Theo James: Good question. Yeah, we kind of tried to work on the law of it with Steven and then with David, the director, but essentially, he can travel within his time span of his life, pretty much. He gets thrown around in time. He doesn’t know when it’s going to happen or how long he’s going to be gone, but he usually goes back to people and places of significant memory. So, in a way it’s a take on trauma, a take on memory, and take on how we remember aspects of our lives.

    When he time travels, one thing we wanted to get into the show was a sense of urgency, a sense of danger. So, it has a physical effect on him. He comes out the other end and he’s covered in sweat. It’s like he’s had an epileptic fit. He’s hungry and he’s extremely exhausted. It also ages him quicker than your average Joe, so by the later years in his life, he looks much older than he actually should be.

    Rose Leslie
    Rose Leslie in HBO Max’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’

    MF: Rose, do you think Rose would have had a relationship with Henry if she had met him as an adult instead of as a child?

    Rose Leslie: Well, it’s a really interesting question, because she pulls him up on it. As 20-year-old Clare, she pulls Henry up on the fact that it was meeting him at such a young age that kind of molded my libido. Through knowing him kind of sporadically through my childhood, meant that he then became this idolized person, and was the perfect man for me. So, I think she, too, has that query. I think she realizes that in the cold light of day, the fact of the matter is that she is completely and totally in love with this man. This is whom she has decided to commit the rest of her life to, knowing that it’s going to be very difficult at times. But she has quite rightly decided to commit to this life of uncertainty. She is now forever tethered to him.

    It’s not fun. It’s kind of certainly, when he is away, her having no idea on whether he’s in danger, on whether he’s safe, and if he’s able to keep warm. It’s kind of riddled with anxiety for her, and it’s something that she, throughout her years, has had to try and learn and know that there’s nothing that she can do for him, other than be hopefully around when he comes back into the house.

    Theo James
    Theo James in HBO Max’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’

    MF: Finally, Theo can you talk about preparing to play this role and your approach to portraying Henry at several different stages of his life?

    TJ: It was complicated, and something that I had to keep myself anchored to at all times, because they have to be the same person, but they have to be different people. Because as we all know, from our youth, we were different people at that age, in the way we moved, the way we talked, but also the way we reacted to people and events around us.

    So, we spent a lot of time kind of shaping what he would be like at different ages. I said this before, but the good thing is I sat between those ages, in a way. I’m 37, and I play a 28-year-old. That’s not that long ago for me to remember making those dumb, impulsive decisions, which I still often do myself. Then the older version, who’s 41 to 43. Now I’m married and have a child. There’s a settled nature to you, or a little bit more, hopefully, an understanding of your sense of self. So, I was able to kind of balance it.

    Theo James and Rose Leslie
    (L to R) Theo James and Rose Leslie for HBO Max’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife.’
  • New ‘House of the Dragon’ Teaser Trailer

    Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans
    (L to R) Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower in HBO Max’s ‘House of the Dragon.’

    “What is this brief, mortal life… If not the pursuit of legacy?” So says Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) in the opening moments of the new teaser for ‘House of the Dragon’.

    And given that this is the prequel series to one of the biggest TV shows of all time, you’d forgive the creators (which include George R.R. Martin, from whose novels ‘Game of Thrones’, that aforementioned TV show, sprang) for having legacy on their mind too.

    Having spent a fraction under $20 million per episode on this first season of ‘Dragon’, the new series is a gamble, even if following ‘Thrones’ might be a slightly safer bet than some others.

    But there’s also that giant fanbase, who devoured every moment of ‘Thrones’ and who ended up having big issues with the final season of the series, to please, which is always on the mind.

    ‘House of the Dragon’, like its progenitor, is also based on Martin’s books, this time the 2018 novel ‘Fire & Blood’, which chronicled the history of House Targaryen, the family seen via Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Thrones’.

    This time, though, the setting is 200 years before the events chronicled in that show, albeit with some very familiar jockeying for power.

    Paddy Considine stars as King Viserys Targaryen, chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy. But good men do not necessarily make for great kings. Matt Smith, most recently seen in ‘Morbius’, is Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon.

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    Eve Best has the role of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, a dragonrider and wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, “The Queen Who Never Was” was passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male.

    The King’s Man’s Rhys Ifans plays Otto Hightower. The Hand of the King, Ser Otto loyally and faithfully serves both his king and his realm. As the Hand sees it, the greatest threat to the realm is the king’s brother, Daemon, and his position as heir to the throne. Olivia Cooke appears as Alicent Hightower, Otto’s daughter, and the most beautiful woman in the Seven Kingdoms. She was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace… and a keen political acumen.

    Emma D’Arcy portrays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the king’s first-born child, she is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man.

    Toussaint’s Velaryon is “The Sea Snake.” Lord of House Velaryon, a Valyrian bloodline as old as House Targaryen. As the most famed nautical adventurer in the history of Westeros, Lord Corlys built his house into a powerful seat that is even richer than the Lannisters and that claims the largest navy in the world.

    Sonoya Mizuno plays Mysaria, who came to Westeros with nothing, sold more times than she can recall. She could have wilted… but instead she rose to become the most trusted – and most unlikely – ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne.

    As the title (and this teaser) suggests, we can expect a lot more dragon action (where do you think a chunk of that hefty budget goes?) and all the political wrangling you might hope for.

    This new show comes from Martin, ‘Colony’ co-creator Ryan Condal and ‘Thrones’ show veteran Miguel Sapochnik, who is an executive producer and director here.

    ‘House of the Dragon’ starts on HBO Max on August 21st.

    'House of the Dragon' poster
    ‘House of the Dragon’ is scheduled to premiere on HBO Max beginning August 21st.
  • Kit Harington Is Joining the MCU, But Who’s He Playing?

    HBO

    Word out of Disney’s D23 Expo is that “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington is joining the MCU.

    But, like Jon Snow himself, we have to admit we know nothing at this point.

    Still, the collision of these two titanic fandoms is news indeed.

    Fellow “Game of Thrones” star Richard Madden was previously announced to star as Ikaris in “The Eternals,” opposite Angelina Jolie

    At one point, Mother of Dragons herself Emilia Clarke was in consideration to play the lead villain in “Iron Man 3,” but, apparently, Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter thought fans wouldn’t buy an action figure of a female villain and the script was rewritten.

    We’ll add more details as we learn them about Harington’s MCU role.

    For more coverage from the D23 Expo 2019, click here!

    [Via Deadline]

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Eyeing Amazon, Disney, Netflix for Overall Deal

    HBO

    The courtship of “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for a mega overall deal is narrowing down to a few suitors.

    The duo has narrowed the field down to Amazon, Disney, and Netflix, according to Variety and Deadline.

    The deal would encompass films, television, and other forms of content.

    Benioff and Weiss aren’t the only high-profile creators looking for a home. J.J. Abrams is also considering homes for an overall deal.

    The duo already has a relationship with Disney, as they are developing a “Star Wars” movie slated for 2022.

    And both Amazon and Netflix would like to tap into the minds behind the pop culture juggernaut that was “Game of Thrones. Both have big and expensive properties in the works — Amazon has “Lord of the Rings” and Netflix has “Chronicles of Narnia” and “Sandman.” Amazon even recently signed a deal with Bryan Cogman, their co-executive producer and writer on “Game of Thrones.”

    “I think wherever they end up, they’ll be lucky to have them,” HBO programming chief Casey Bloy said recently. “They’re some of the best showrunners I’ve ever worked with, and in this talent marketplace, I think everybody should go and get whatever they can.”

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners Out for 2019 Comic-Con Panel

    ‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners Out for 2019 Comic-Con Panel

    Maisie Williams in Game of Thrones
    Helen Sloan/HBO

    The highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 will look different than expected.

    A handful of key players have backed out of the event. HBO has updated its list of panelists, and noticeably absent are showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, actors Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) and Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), and director Miguel Sapochnik, as Variety reports. HBO chalked the changes up to production and schedule conflicts.

    The good news is that there are still plenty of panelists set to participate. Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Conleth Hill (Varys), and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) are all on the list. The “Game of Thrones” Twitter account promoted their presence in a tweet Wednesday.

    This will be a last hurrah of sorts. The eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” concluded in May, so the event is bound to be bittersweet. The panel is set for Friday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. in SDCC’s Hall H.

    For all of our San Diego Comic Con coverage, please click here!

    [via: Variety]

  • 2019 Emmy Nominations: ‘Game of Thrones’ Breaks Yet Another Record

    2019 Emmy Nominations: ‘Game of Thrones’ Breaks Yet Another Record

    HBO

    HBO’s recently-wrapped fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” was expected to clean up at this year’s Emmy nominations, and boy, did it ever, snagging a whopping 32 nods for its eighth and final season. And with that tally, the show has once again broken another Emmys record.

    This latest batch of nominations has officially certified “Thrones” as the drama series to earn the most nods for a single season. It bested an impressive 25-year record set by ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” which notched 27 nominations for a single season back in 1994.

    “Game of Thrones” had previously set the all-time total Emmy nominations record, with its cumulative 129 nods earned as of 2018 (a record that it’s now broken once again). And it had also become the winningest primetime series ever at the Emmys, taking home 47 statuettes as of last year (yet another record that we think will soon be topped).

    As Entertainment Weekly notes, one of the most impressive aspects of this year’s “Thrones” achievement is that every single actor that HBO submitted for awards consideration — and several who submitted themselves — all received nods, bringing the show’s total acting nominations tally this year to nine. That was no doubt welcome news for Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke, who switched their eligibility from the supporting categories to lead last year, and were shut out; this year, they both made the cut.

    Sophie Turner received her first-ever nomination this year, in the supporting category, helping “Thrones” to set yet another record. It’s now the only drama series to have four actresses represented in the supporting field in one year (Turner, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, and Gwendoline Christie), beating the previous record of three.

    Expect even more Emmys history for “Thrones” when awards are handed out. The 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are slated for Sunday, September 22 on Fox.

    [h/t Entertainment Weekly]

  • George R.R. Martin Says Negative ‘Game of Thrones’ Reactions Won’t Change His Book Ending

    George R.R. Martin Says Negative ‘Game of Thrones’ Reactions Won’t Change His Book Ending

    HBO

    For what feels like forever (but has actually been eight years), author George R.R. Martin has been toiling away on the final two installments of his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series — a.k.a., the novels on which the recently-wrapped HBO series “Game of Thrones” was based. Now that that show has signed off, and Martin has heard all of the reactions to its controversial finale, will the writer be making any changes to his manuscripts?

    If you’ve been following Martin at all over the years, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that the answer is a resounding “No.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the outspoken author admitted that there was some temptation to alter some of his more surprising twists, now that some suspense will be gone for readers.

    But Martin said that doing so would be “wrong,” because “you’ve been planning for a certain ending and if you suddenly change direction just because somebody figured it out, or because they don’t like it, then it screws up the whole structure.”

    “I want to write the book I’ve always intended to write all along,” he told EW. “And when it comes out they can like it or they can not like it.”

    The author made similar remarks back in May, when addressing just how his own ending would compare to the show’s, noting that there would be both similarities and differences. Speaking with EW this week, Martin said that he initially did feel pressure to finish writing his novels a few years ago, after the show started to get ahead of the books; now that “Thrones” is done, the urgency to wrap his writing has lessened significantly.

    “I don’t only want to finish it, I want to make it as good as I possibly can,” the author explained to EW. ” … There’s no longer a race. The show is over. I’m writing the book. It will be done when it’s done.”

    We suspect this won’t be the last time Martin addresses this subject. Stay tuned to see if he comments again before “The Winds of Winter” hits shelves. (We have a feeling he will.)

    [via: Entertainment Weekly]

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Will Include Starks and Direwolves

    ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Will Include Starks and Direwolves

    HBO

    In the final season of “Game of Thrones,” the White Walkers was were defeated in the course of one episode, But in HBO’s planned prequel, the White Walkers and their army of the dead will a looming threat for a very, very long time.

    Author George R.R. Martin, whose “A Song of Ice and Fire” books established the world of “Game of Thrones,” has revealed a few tantalizing details about the upcoming, still-untitled prequel in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

    The pilot, which was written by Jane Goldman with a story from Martin, takes place thousands of years before the events of “Game of Thrones.” It chronicles the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour, the Long Night.

    While the prequel is set 5,000 years before the books/television show, Martin revealed that some things will remain familiar.

    There won’t be any Lannisters, Targaryens or dragons but, “The Starks will definitely be there,” he said.

    “Obviously the White Walkers are here — or as they’re called in my books, The Others — and that will be an aspect of it. There are things like direwolves and mammoths.”

    And if you had trouble keeping track of all the different houses of the Seven Kingdoms? Try keeping up with more than 100 kingdoms, Martin teased.

    He also emphasized the ensemble nature of the cast, which includes Naomi Watts, Miranda Richardson, and Josh Whitehouse.

    As for the title, which has yet to be announced, Martin still likes “The Long Night.” Unfortunately, that was the title of the Season 8 battle episode against the White Walkers.

    “I heard a suggestion that it could be called The Longest Night, which is a variant I wouldn’t mind,” he said. “That would be pretty good.”

    The pilot began shooting in June under director S.J. Clark. HBO has yet to announce if it’ll be picked up to series nor when that series would premiere.