Game of Thrones Prequel Begins Filming!

The next chapter in the Game of Thrones saga has quietly slipped into production.  Filming started recently on the Game of Thrones prequel. It in a place familiar to those who watched the original series – Northern Ireland.  That should give us a hint as to the feel of the new series.  There’s been no official release yet about whether filming will continue in other locations. Nevertheless, I would actually doubt if we see many locations other than Ireland.

Game of Thrones Prequel: The Story To Come

Jon Snow may know nothing, but neither do we when it comes to this prequel.  Martin says in an interview with Entertainment Weekly the new show will be called The Long Night and be set 5,000 years before the original.  Given the ancient feel of Ireland and the timing, many have speculated this series, whose season length is yet unknown, will focus on the children of the forestand their creation of the night king.  Granted the title could change between now and release.

Now the creation of the night king and the white walkers differs greatly between book and series.  If we use the books as canon, the timing of this Game of Thrones prequel series does not quite line up with these events. However, the rewritten timeline according to the series DOES line events up with the Children creating the night king during this time.  It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

Martin describes the show as follows:

“Westeros is a very different place. There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”

George Martin with EW

A Whole New Cast

The Game of Thrones prequel is set to star Naomi Watts (King Kong). Joining her are Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Miranda Richardson, Josh Whitehouse, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Alex Sharp and Toby Regbo. The the original show had a massively broad scope. Look for this show to have a tighter, more focused story setting.