HBO to make A Song of Fire and Ice series!!!

[Jadow]

ahh, bring old John Rys Davies out of mothballs for Tyrion

[brainee]

Originally Posted by sven

as bad as it sounds he probably wouldnt live long enough to finish the series.

As bad as it sounds, I'm more worried about Martin living long enough to finish the series. Pushing 60, looks seriously overweight. The 5-year gap between the last 2 books in the series worries me. I hope it means he's building up a lot of material to release in a short period of time to get the story finished (like King did at the end with "Dark Tower"). But it could just as easily mean he is running out of steam for this story, is tiring of the commitment, or just can't write as fast as he used to.

Dinklage could be good ... I haven't seen as much of him, though. I'm sure there there are some good small actors out there who are unknown. And the LotR approach is an option, depending on how affordable it is. It is critical to not cast this role for looks, but for ability. It's a challenging and complex character that is central to many key parts of the story. So long as they don't take the "Dungeons and Dragons: The Movie" approach, and have an actor play a dwarf even though he's clearly normal sized and no one else makes mention of it.

[sven]

Well ADWD SHOULD be out by the end of the year. I mean he was already half finished with it when he finished AFFC. But who know?

And if the decide to go the LOTR route with Tyrion i say they just get Nathan Fillion. I mean he's great at playing a snarky smartass or maybe its just because I have man-crush on him.

[mgbfan]

Originally Posted by brainee

As bad as it sounds, I'm more worried about Martin living long enough to finish the series. Pushing 60, looks seriously overweight.

Not proud to say it, but I've had the same thought. Is it going to be Frank Herbert and Dune all over again? Martin doesn't have any no-talent kids to come in and write the final books, does he?

[mgbfan]

Hmm - Peter Dinklage is an interesting option for Tyrion. He was decent in The Station Agent. He might be able to pull it off.

[SiberianLlama]

What about Warwick Davis from Willow as Tyrion? I think he'd be a pretty good choice.

[brainee]

Originally Posted by SiberianLlama

What about Warwick Davis from Willow as Tyrion? I think he'd be a pretty good choice.

For some reason I thought he was older ... but he's actually younger than Dinklage. I don't remember "Willow" so well ... has he displayed acting skills suggesting he's capable of tackling this role? He mostly seems to be working in fantasy/horror/sci-fi when a small creature is needed (though I understand that little people in Hollywood are pretty much limited to these roles -- meaty acting parts like Samson in "Carnivale" are rare).

[Jadow]

ok, Warwick could be ok.

I'm thinking a young Dannie Devito would have been good, but now he's too old.

Paul Giamatti for Tyrion?

This series really should have James McAvoy as Jon Stark.

And some joke casting ideas,
William Atherton (walter peck from Ghostbusters)
and Jason Mewes could find a role in this series somewhere.

[SiberianLlama]

Jason Mewes as Hodor! Hodor! Hodor!

[sven]

Originally Posted by Jadow

ok, Warwick could be ok.

I'm thinking a young Dannie Devito would have been good, but now he's too old.

Paul Giamatti for Tyrion?

This series really should have James McAvoy as Jon Stark.

And some joke casting ideas,
William Atherton (walter peck from Ghostbusters)
and Jason Mewes could find a role in this series somewhere.

Giamatti would ROCK as Tyrion.

Originally Posted by SiberianLlama

What about Warwick Davis from Willow as Tyrion? I think he'd be a pretty good choice.

he doesnt strike me as a very strong actor. Meegosh owned him

And as long as we're throwing out joke ideas. Hows about Patton Oswalt as Tyrion? He's practically a dwarf anyway.

[Jeremy517]

GRRM said on his website that HBO finally has ordered the pilot.

http://grrm.livejournal.com/

Originally Posted by George R. R. Martin

Huge, Huge News

* Nov. 11th, 2008 at 10:29 PM

HBO has given the production order.

They will be filming the pilot episode of A GAME OF THRONES.

It's just the pilot so far. They'll need to see that before they decide whether to proceed with a full season's episodes. So let's all hope the pilot will kick serious ass.

It should. David Benioff and Dan Weiss did a terrific job with the script. And yes, all of you can relax, it's very faithful. Dan and David will be the executive producers for the pilot and (we hope) the eventual series.

More details when I have 'em. The news is very fresh. HBO just issued their own press release, which should be up on their website soon, if it's not there already.

Winter is coming to HBO. Hot damn.

Great news

[leeta]

HBO could really do justice to this series. If only they approve it and don't bail out on it!!!

[Tommy Ceez]

Therer will be five years between season 5 and 6 at Martins pace!

[Autotelik]

Holy cow! That's really great news. If done right, I think this has potential to be the best HBO series ever!

I think they would have to spend an entire season on just one book though, if not more. Each book is so dense and long, with so many characters in it. I really hope this makes it to the screen.

[Geofferson]

Is HBO revisiting its approach regarding big budget dramas ('Carnivale', 'Deadwood')?

Perhaps because its approach to scale-back didn't work out so well ('John from Cincinnatti', 'Tell Me You Love Me').

[bdshort]

Excited if this actually happens, as I loved the first 3 books. I have book 4 but have been having a very hard time getting into it.

[Maxflier]

Originally Posted by Autotelik

I think they would have to spend an entire season on just one book though, if not more. Each book is so dense and long, with so many characters in it.

If i'm not mistaken, that is the plan. A season for each book.

[Larry C.]

Originally Posted by Baron Of Hell

I wonder if this will fly. The books have underage sex in it and incest in it. Are they going to cut that out or make some people older.

So are they getting Larry Clarke?

[Vendetta-AKK]

Originally Posted by Larry C.

So are they getting Larry Clarke?

Ha Ha I love Larry Clarke. Seriously though, I don't think this is much of an obstacle. They can just make Daenerys alittle older looking than she is described in the book. And as for the Lannister siblings, it isn't any big secret that there was alot of incest amongst royalty.

I am excited about this but I still feel it is probably a long shot. This will easily cost them as much as Rome, and the whole fantasy craze that hit after the LOTRs movies has died off. However, I feel that this has the protental to bring in a larger audience than Rome did simply because it has so many likeable characters and a plot that really keeps you in suspense. Also I think it was reported some time ago that the BBC had agreed to share financing, which would help its chances significantly.

[riley_dude]

I hadn't thought of this but...

Question: Do the Desperate Housewives writers expect us to believe that Dave is the husband-father of the family killed in the wreck by Mike and Susan and they never saw him before? -- Latoya

Ausiello: Yeah, I'm a having a little trouble overlooking that little detail as well.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Vendetta-AKK

I am excited about this but I still feel it is probably a long shot. This will easily cost them as much as Rome, and the whole fantasy craze that hit after the LOTRs movies has died off. .

Isn't Twilight just blowing up huge right now?

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by riley_dude

I hadn't thought of this but...

Question: Do the Desperate Housewives writers expect us to believe that Dave is the husband-father of the family killed in the wreck by Mike and Susan and they never saw him before? -- Latoya

Ausiello: Yeah, I'm a having a little trouble overlooking that little detail as well.

[sven]

BOOM!

The Hollywood Reporter

Tom McCarthy has come aboard to direct HBO's fantasy pilot "Game of Thrones," on which the star of his first feature, "The Station Agent's" Peter Dinklage, has been tapped for a key role.

Based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling "Songs of Fire and Ice" novels, "Thrones" is described as an epic struggle for power set in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom. Dinklage will play Tyrion, the Queen's brother who is treated as an outsier because of his size.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss penned the pilot script and are exec producing. HBO Entertainment president-turned-producer Carolyn Strauss, Management 360's Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and Martin serve as co-exec producers, and Mark Huffam and Frank Doelger are producers.

"Thrones" is slated to film in the third quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what the country's First Minister Peter Robinson hails as "the first TV production of such vast size and scale that has been filmed in Northern Ireland."

Dinklage, repped by manager David Ginsberg and attorney Karl Austen, is filming two features: the indie "Pete Smalls Is Dead," which he also co-produces, and Screen Gems/Sidney Kimmel's remake of "Death at a Funeral."

"Thrones" marks the first TV directorial gig for the Gersh-repped McCarthy, an actor who wrote and directed two features, 2003's "Station Agent" and 2007's "The Visitor," both of which landed him Indie Spirit Awards. On the acting side, McCarthy next appears in "2012."

[heebiejeebie]

Fantastic News! It looks like this may actually get made. I've only read the first book, but I thought it was excellent. This news has reminded me that I need to catch up and read the rest of the books.

[Maxflier]

As i'm sure others would agree, you're probably better off waiting until he finishes the series (assuming he ever does) because with so much going on in these books you'll lose track of stuff while waiting for the next book to come out. I had stopped partway through book 3 and decided instead of resuming it to just start over from book 1 once all the books are done.