Game of Thrones spin-off to film in Belfast this October

The new – and final – series of Game of Thrones still feels an awful long way off, but fans will be heartened by the increasing momentum for its planned spin-off series.

Thanks to a scoop from the Belfast Telegraph, it’s been reported that the prequel will be shooting in the city this October.

Staff at Paint Hall Studios are said to have been briefed on their next project, which will be set a massive 10,000 years before the events in the TV series, and the books on which its based, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

It’s been previously reported that a Star Wars spin-off movie will shoot there next year too.

Game of Thrones has filmed in Northern Ireland since it began production in 2010, at locations like Ballintoy Harbour (used for the Iron Islands), Dark Hedges (King’s Landing), Castle Ward (Winterfell) and Downhill Beach (Dragonstone).

However, it’s perhaps less the location than the speed of which things are progressing which is of most interest.

It was only recently that we heard that writer Jane Goldman, she of Kick-Ass and Kingsman fame, had been anointed to work on the first GoT spin-off series for HBO.

It will reportedly centre on ‘the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know’.

George R.R. Martin later took to his blog last month to confirm the plans, writing: “None of the characters or actors from Game of Thrones will appear in the new show.

“All of the successor shows we’ve been developing have been prequels, as I have mentioned before. This one really puts the pre in prequel, since it is set not ninety years before Game of Thrones (like Dunk & Egg), or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years (well, assuming the oral histories of the First Men are accurate, but there are maesters at the Citadel who insist it has only been half that long). We’re very early in the process, of course, with the pilot order just in.”

Meanwhile, post-production continues on Game of Thrones’ eighth season, comprising six feature-length episodes.

There’s no premiere date yet, but it will land some time next year.

Read more
Cast and crew walking off anti-abortion movie
Simon Pegg reveals struggle with alcoholism
Riverdance star unveils new movie