George R.R. Martin named one of Hollywood’s Most Powerful Authors
Along with winter, awards nominations, and gift suggestions, the end of the year is also list season. The Hollywood Reporter has put together one such list, looking at the 25 most powerful authors in Hollywood. Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin clocks in near the top number three.
Sitting just behind Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling (still selling a million books a year) and longtime Hollywood stalwart Steven King (with 17 projects in the works) George R.R. Martin as powerhouse is a relative newcomer in comparison. Though he has a long career in TV and A Song of Ice and Fire has been out since 1996, the Hollywood version of Game of Thrones had only been on air for four years.
Part of why he’s so high on the list, THR points out, is that GRRM has upped his visibility recently:
If it seems like you’ve seen a lot of Martin this year — well, you have. The author, 66, tripled his 2013 late-night appearances with stops at Conan, Last Week Tonight and Late Night, where he was fawned over by Seth Meyers and fellow guest Amy Poehler. Add to that collaborations with Funny or Die and Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken, and it’s easy to see Martin has achieved a visibility rare for a fantasy author.
As for the show that catapulted him to fame:
In GOT’s fourth season (which ended June 15), it passed The Walking Dead to become the most-watched series on TV, with more than 18 million weekly viewers — plus a record 7.5 million or so who illegally downloaded the finale. The Internet exploded with theories after a GOT episode went beyond the books for the first time (Martin is a notoriously slow writer). Happily for fans, the author is cutting back on his appearances in preparation for a big 2015, which will include the most anticipated season yet, debuting in April — and possibly the sixth, long-gestating A Song of Fire and Ice book.
Meanwhile, Time has put out its end of year list of the Top 10 TV Shows and Top 10 TV Episodes. Though Game of Thrones didn’t make the cut on the former, it does have an entry for one of the Best Episodes, coming in on the list at number 5:
The Lion and The Rose
It’s tempting to think of Game of Thrones in terms of events rather than episodes: The One Where That Guy Gets His Head Smashed, The One With the Red Wedding, and so on. But this–The One Where Joffrey Dies–was great less for the shocker ending than for how, during one of the most awkward royal wedding receptions ever, it laid out the alliances and subterfuges among the attending guests and suggested the horrors of an ascendant Lannister family, all before poor Joff had one cup of wine too many and the game, as well as the throne, changed once again.
Do you agree with Time’s pick? Are you glad Martin made it so high on the list? Sound off in the comments!
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