Game of Thrones online portal Winter Is Coming is speculating this morning on rumors that the HBO series adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series will begin production on a second season, covering A Clash of Kings, very soon.
The site, which has been dutifully following the filming of Game of Thrones, cites already existing rumors, as well as reports from actors and writers already secured for a second season. From the post:
Now we are hearing word that a second season will go into production very soon after season one wraps. This sounds similar to info we have from writer Bryan Cogman, who mentioned that the plan is for them to immediately begin scripting and planning for season two.
The post continues to speculate on how this would fit into HBO’s schedule. (Fittingly, during the winter months.) If true, this would mean that fans of the Song of Ice and Fire series would get two seasons of the show in 2011.
For more information, visit Winter Is Coming.
Clash of Kings art by Stephen Youll
So I wonder how much HBO will get to make up when they film the season covering ‘A Dance with Dragons’ before the book itself is actually finished? I mean, that’s only 3 years away, right?
Cool! But I’m really wondering what will happen in two years when they finish shooting the fourth season, and the directors and cast are standing around looking at each other asking, “Okay so what happens next?”
They have a conundrum- they need to produce the show fast, so the child actors don’t get too old, but slow, so GRRM has time to finish the books.
I just hope that GRRM has been secretly writing the rest of the novels and will release the rest of the series all at once.
I have heard (on that source of truth, the Internet) that GRRM has got past the part he was stuck on and has only five chapters to go. Let’s all hope.
For marketing purposes, the next volume really should be released at the time the series premieres.
@5. Del Rey editor Betsy Mitchell actually announced that at NYCC in October. (Self-plug: It was before this panel.) It went over a bit quietly though, since GRRM has promised the book many times before.
I too am very curious as to what they’re going to do in regards to the book timing. Even if Dance of Dragons is finished by spring, that only gives him four years of buffer time to finish (and publish!) the entire series.
GRRM has had near total radio silence regarding writing process since he came back from a conference in Australia and a trip to Northern Ireland and Malta to see filming. (One post mentioned in passing he was working on “krakens”). Not only are there only five chapters remaining but he has text written in each one. I’m pretty confident he’ll finish the books by Xmas, allowing for publication of ADOD as the HBO show is getting launched.
Regarding future years, Storm of Swords is really long and could be broken into two seasons as needed. If GRRM gets ADOD done now and the next book in two years, all will be doable.
One final note – it is clear that HBO has been planning on second season all along. Lommy and Hot Pie have been cast and they are not even in Book One. Why give them a Season One tease unless you are confident the more expansive roles will be there in Season Two. Couple of other roles fit into that category as well (but I can’t remember that ATM).
One of my favorite parts about this series coming to HBO was that it forces GRRM to get the series done in a timely fashion. I think he was quoted once as saying that not even HBO can film a season based on a book he hasn’t written yet.
There’s been talk of the 7 book series needing 10 years to film — ASoS in particular needing 2 seasons to cover, and ADwD by the sounds of it. Plus, HBO is perfectly capable of spacing seasons out at various lengths. They moved to an 18-month schedule, IIRC, for the Sopranos at the end. You can say that it was their flagship, of course… but if the series is running strong enough to merit a sixth, seventh, etc. season, then it’ll probably be their flagship by that point in time anyways. ;)
But that said, George has said on several occasions that he’s filled David and Dan on where the story is going and various major background points in case they catch up with him, one way or another. They can make up all they want after that.
This is all hypothetical, of course. It needs to make it through quite a few seasons before one needs to worry about catching up to the series, and every season is going to be a gift.
As far as these rumors go, I think they’re a bit breathless. Key production people will doubtless be kept on hand (this is in fact normal, according to a former member of the production with a great deal of experience) and some prepatory work will be done because they’ll want to be running out of the gate if they’re greenlit (scripts, VFX breakdowns to go with them, preliminary plans for new set builds, location scouting, etc.), but the suggestion that they may start filming S2 come January or February is, I’m afraid, very optimistic. If cameras are rolling in January, it won’t be for S2.
I could see them getting in front of the camera in late April or early May, and HBO may loosen up its usual norm of having all episodes in the can before they start airing, which would certainly allow them to start airing in January (as some speculate is the desire)…
But, first season greenlight first. I think it highly probable, of course, as it’s hard to see how there’d be catastrophic ratings… but stranger things have happened, and because of that, I don’t think HBO is going to over-commit itself when they have other ways of getting the same speculated result (January 2012 for an S2 start) without gambling everything on it being a substantial hit without any ratings results to go by.
Thanks for the update, Ran. As you as curious as me about the status of George’s work on the final five chapters. Radio silence except for one reference to working on the krakens. Do you have any other word?
Rob
That’s gonna be awesome!
Also thank you guys for the most welcome updates you gave!
I’m not concerned about the tv series, I’m worried that
George Martin will die before this great work is finished.
Will I be alive to read the last book? Remember what happened to Dickens last book – The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
ricko
I haven’t read the books, but hasn’t this conundrum been well sorted in anime already? The anime/film people think up their own good, sensible ending, and the manga/book people continue on with what would have been the original ending. Voila! Two canon (-ish) possiblities for the story, pick the one you like best.
Really thrilled that this great series is being produced, now I have to get HBO! My understanding was that “A Dance with Dragons” is the last in the series…….then somewhere I heard that there is to be a seventh??? Does anyone out there know for sure??
The latest on his blog is that he is planning seven books in this ” ice and fire” series. I say again- can he finish?
ricko
Somebody needs to wake GRRM up, then tie him to the keyboard for a few weeks. He said the second half of A Feast for Crows was almost done 6 years ago. He’s too busy entertaining himself to bother entertaining his readers in this series.