Production
Conception and development
A number of Hollywood studios had contacted George R. R. Martin about possibly adapting his book series A Song of Ice and Fire into a film. However, Martin expressed the opinion the books could not be made into a film as too much would have to be cut from the books, but thought it could be made into a television series.[1] In January 2006, David Benioff happened to speak to Martin's literary agent, and the agent sent the first four books of A Song of Ice and Fire to David Benioff.[2] Benioff read a few hundred pages of the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones,[3] called D. B. Weiss and said: "Maybe I'm crazy, but I haven't had this much fun reading anything in about 20 years. So take a look because I think it might make a great HBO series."[4] Weiss, who then read the first book in two days, was very enthusiastic about a possible television project based on the books. They arranged a meeting with Martin, who asked them if they knew who Jon Snow's real mother might be, and was satisfied with their answer.[3]
In March 2006, a few weeks after meeting Martin, Benioff and Weiss pitched the show to Showtime and then Carolyn Strauss of HBO, the latter of whom accepted their proposal.[3][5] HBO acquired the rights to the novels to turn them into a television series,[6] with Benioff and Weiss as writers and executive producers of the series. The series went into development in January 2007.[7] The series would begin with the first book from 1996, "A Game of Thrones", with the intention that each novel in the series would form the basis for a season's worth of episodes.[7] However, Benioff and Weiss had to resubmit a proposal after Carolyn Strauss stepped down as president of HBO in 2008.[8] The first and second drafts of the pilot script, written by Benioff and Weiss, were submitted in August 2007 and June 2008 respectively.[9] While HBO found both drafts to their liking, a pilot was not ordered until November 2008.[10]
Writing
Scripted by the show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the first episode includes the plot of the book's chapters 1–9 and 12 (Prologue, Bran I, Catelyn I, Daenerys I, Eddard I, Jon I, Catelyn II, partial Arya I, Bran II, Daenerys II). Changes in the adaptation include the sequence of events in the prologue (in the books it is Gared and not Will who survives and is beheaded by Eddard afterwards, and Arya's material is set before the arrival of the royal family), new scenes showing the Lannister twins' perspective, and Daenerys's wedding night showing Drogo not waiting for her to consent to sex.[11]
Filming
Tom McCarthy was chosen to direct the pilot episode, shot between October 24 and November 19, 2009 on location in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Morocco.[12] However, the pilot was deemed unsatisfactory and had to be reshot.
The new first episode was filmed in 2010 by new director Tim Van Patten, and several actors appearing in the original pilot did not return for the series. Tamzin Merchant was replaced as Daenerys Targaryen by Emilia Clarke, and Jennifer Ehle was replaced as Catelyn Stark by Michelle Fairley.[13] Additionally, Ian McNeice was replaced as Magister Illyrio by Roger Allam,[14] Richard Ridings[15] as Gared by Dermot Keaney, and Jamie Campbell Bower[15] as Ser Waymar Royce by Rob Ostlere.[16]
Another difference is that the original pilot featured scenes shot in Scotland and scenes in Pentos were shot in Morocco,[17][18] but in the aired series, Winterfell was filmed in a combination of locations in Northern Ireland, while scenes from Pentos were from Malta.[19] The Doune Castle in Scotland was originally used to recreate Winterfell, and its great hall was used for some interior shots. Some scenes survived, but as it was not practical to return to Scotland for the reshoot, an exact replica of Doune's great hall was recreated in the soundstage in Belfast for the series. Castle Ward in Northern Ireland was used in the reshoot to film King Robert's entourage entry into Winterfell castle.[20] A car park stood in for the Winterfell castle's courtyard and a wine cellar for the Stark family crypt.[21] The Tollymore Forest Park was used for the opening scene of the encounter with the White Walkers.[22]
All the scenes shot in Morocco were reshot in Malta.[17] The original pilot reused the sets of Kingdom of Heaven in Morocco to stand in for Pentos and the site of Drogo and Daenerys's wedding.[23] In Malta, the Verdala Palace, the 16th century summer palace of the president of Malta, was used for the exterior scenes at Illyrio's mansion. The Azure Window was used as the backdrop for the wedding.[24] Filming at the Azure Window, however, caused some controversy when a protected ecosystem was damaged by a subcontractor.[25]
In the sex scene from the pilot, the then-pregnant Lena Headey was substituted by a body double.[26] In the scene in which the Starks encounter a stag killed by a dire wolf as they return from the execution, an actual animal was used rather than a prop. As the stag had been dead for two days, it stank so much that the actors had to take much care not to let it show on their faces.[27] Some scenes filmed were unaired, for example a flashback to the deaths of Eddard Stark's brother and Jon Arryn.[28]
Original pilot
The original pilot from 2009 was poorly received in a private viewing with friends, one of whom, Craig Mazin, said to Benioff and Weiss, "You guys have a massive problem", and said "change everything" when asked for ideas.[29] It was so disliked that Kit Harington joked that when he annoys Benioff and Weiss, they threaten to release the episode on YouTube.[30] Weiss said of the viewing: "Watching them watch the pilot was a deeply humiliating, painful experience, because these are very smart individuals, and it just clearly wasn’t working for any of them on a very basic level."[31][32] For example, it was never established that Jaime and Cersei Lannister were in fact brother and sister, a major plot point.[32]
HBO did not make a decision for four months after the pilot was delivered.[32] In March 2010, HBO's decision to greenlight the series was announced,[33] with the production of the series scheduled to start June 2010.[34] HBO however demanded the first episode be reshot, and wanted all the scenes from Morocco scrapped.[17] A cameo appearance by George R.R. Martin as a Pentoshi nobleman at Daenerys's wedding filmed in Morocco was therefore also cut.[35] Around 90 percent of the pilot was re-shot in 2010, with some cast changes and a different director.[31]
Aired episode
The original pilot remains unaired, although some footage from it was used in the first aired episode.[36] This includes Sansa's scenes with Catelyn (Michelle Fairley's footage as Catelyn was inserted over Jennifer Ehle's performance),[31] Will's ride through the woods (retained though also portrayed by a different actor), most of the feast at Winterfell, and Ned and Robert's scene in the crypt. That scene is one of a few to be filmed on 35 mm film, and consequently slight film grain can be seen in the HD version of the episode.[27]
