Entertainment Weekly mentions Thrones
Entertainment Weekly touched briefly on Game of Thrones in an article about HBO sustaining their current momentum. The article first discusses Treme and The Pacific and then moves onto Thrones.
Meanwhile, HBO–which, like EW, is owned by Time Warner–is generating heat for a pilot it hasn’t even picked up yet: the network’s adaptation of the fantasy book A Game of Thrones, starring Sean Bean and Lena Headey. Filmed entirely on location in Ireland and Morocco, Thrones supposedly boasts a budget that rivals that of the famously lavish Rome, but HBO co-chairman Michael Lombardo is quick to point out that all the network’s shows have to meet high expectations–especially in light of stiff competition from the likes of Showtime and USA. “We are taking shots at shows that we wouldn’t have taken a shot at five years ago,” says Lombardo, who, with co-chairman Richard Plelper and entertainment president Sue Naegle, has developed an unprecedented number of pilots. “We opened our arms and invited people to come in and pitch things even if they didn’t think it was HBO. We stopped second-guessing ourselves.
Winter Is Coming: Despite the somewhat pessimistic quote from Lombardo, I think this is a good thing. First off, to get mentioned in Entertainment Weekly is a pretty big deal. It is the premier mainstream entertainment magazine. Secondly, the quote doesn’t seem to be specifically referring to Thrones, but rather HBO’s new development policy in general.
Also the comparison in budget to Rome is probably a bit of an exaggeration. Generally, the production has done a good job keeping the costs down. Sure, the budget is probably closer to Rome than it is to Sex and the City, but I don’t think it is so exorbitantly high as to be concerned. Not yet at least.
So yeah, I see this mention as a very good thing as it helps sustain the buzz during this current downtime. Now if only HBO could really get things going by giving a series order!
[Via Westeros. Thanks to About Yea High for the transcription!]
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