Game of Thrones is one of the most complex and well-thought-out universes in all of storytelling. It follows multiple storylines of many different characters, from different bloodlines and families, at different stages of their lives and different timelines, which is, perhaps, the best way to sum up one of the most successful series of all time. On top of this, the entire story is set in a fantastical, fictional world, where magic and dragons are real. Telling human stories in a world that is as far away as it gets from reality, is something that can very easily go wrong, and be screwed up by some of the most talented people in the industry.
Executing this on-screen perfectly, and having to follow in the footsteps of its wildly, successful source material, a book series of the same name by author, George R. R. Martin., was no easy task for David, Benioff, and D. B. Weiss. Not only did they have to face the challenge of making this world come to life, but they also had to go through several production hurdles, including convincing the author to allow them to tell this story, as well as convincing the studio to fund it.
Game of Thrones Author Rejected Screen Adaptations Of His Work For A Reason
According to IMDb, when George R. R. Martin was writing the Game of Thrones series, he wrote it in a way that made it impossible to be filmed and adapted onto the big screen. He understood this, and to some degree, did this intentionally. He was given several offers by many people throughout his writing of the series, however, he always rejected them. There are many reasons for this, starting with the fact that he thought the books were too expansive to be turned into a movie series.
There was also the fact, that a lot of the time, was approached for the adaptation only specific characters from the series. This was something he wasn’t a big fan of, and did not think it fair for one carrot, a story to be told, while the rest lay in the dust. It seemed that had very strong opinions about his works, and desperately wanted to do justice to them. This raises the question of what led Martin to change his mind and let his books get turned into the massively successful series that we know and love today.
Game of Thrones Creators Tricked HBO
George R. R. Martin only changed his mind when David Benioff and D. B. Weiss approached him and told him that they could make a series is wildly, successful book franchises. This agreement did not come until the two passed a test given to them by the writer. Martin asked to do a simple question regarding the franchise, asking who they thought, was the mother of Jon Snow, something that wasn’t revealed until deep into the series. When the director heard their answer, he was satisfied enough that he agreed to sell to the rights to the books.
Later on, Benioff and Weiss confessed that they ended up, creating the series after they tricked the studio, HBO, into greenlighting the project. They did so by convincing them that the series was mostly surface-level human drama and character interaction, hoping that none of the studio executives would pick up the books to read what does series was about. Oddly enough, this worked, as no one at the studio, was willing to go through a 4000-page series, and simply fact check, what the two showrunners were saying.
This was quite interesting concerning the actual series on its own, with its fantasy element, which would cost a lot more than a simple drama series about human interactions, character feelings, and relationships.
