HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series
Cabler acquires rights to Martin's 'Ice'
By MICHAEL FLEMING



HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire & Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy") and Weiss ("Halo") and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.

The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.

The author will co-exec produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.

Martin's series has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien, because both are period epics set in imagined lands. But Martin has eschewed Tolkien's good-vs.-evil theme in favor of flawed characters from seven noble families.

The book has a decidedly adult bent, with sex and violence comparable to series like "Rome" and "Deadwood."

"They tried for 50 years to make 'Lord of the Rings' as one movie before Peter Jackson found success making three," Martin said. "My books are bigger and more complicated, and would require 18 movies. Otherwise, you'd have to choose one or two characters."

Aside from writing the most recent draft of "Halo," Weiss recently adapted the William Gibson novel "Pattern Recognition" for WB and director Peter Weir.

Benioff and Weiss were repped by CAA and Management 360.

Chungking schreef:
Wat betreft de tv-serie ben ik zeer sceptisch. Ze moeten al een geweldige regisseur vinden die dit in goede banen kan leiden. Een goede casting is ook niet onbelangrijk.

Grovonion2 schreef:
Die vrees was gelukkig niet gegrond.

Grovonion2 schreef:
Er lagen dus 5 jaar tussen deel 4 en 5, Martin is nu 64 en ziet er niet uit als het archetype dat 80 wordt. Hij wil nog 2 delen schrijven ("Winds of winter" & "A hope of spring" of zoiets) en aan dit tempo is hij 74 als het laatste deel zou moeten uitkomen. Ik hoop dat hij zich haast, want ik zou het heel erg vinden als een ghost-writer deze cyclus ten einde zou moeten schrijven