‘Game of Thrones’ to begin S7 production

Game Of Thrones will begin shooting its next season later than usual during summer (in the northern hemisphere) said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming yesterday.

According to him the seven-episode seventh season will be based in Northern Ireland, while additional portions will be filmed in Spain and Iceland, with its debut slated for summer 2017 (winter in South Africa) on HBO.

“Now that winter has arrived on Game Of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” Bloys says.

“Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

Season 7 directors will include Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Matt Shakman and Alan Taylor.

Locations for shooting in Spain will include Sevilla, Caceres, Almodovar del Rio, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo.

Last week, Game Of Thrones received 23 Primetime Emmy nominations, the most of any nominee for the third year in a row.

This year’s nominations include Outstanding Drama Series, two for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington), three for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Max von Sydow), two for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Miguel Sapochnik, Jack Bender) and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss).

Game of Thrones Season 7 will be scheduled on M-Net Edge in 2017.

Season 6 of the show has been groundbreaking in terms of local television. For the first time in South Africa, television viewers was able to watch an international drama series at exactly the same time as their American counterparts. M-Net Edge started to simulcast the much-anticipated Season 5 when it launched in the US in April.

Also, the 68th Emmy Awards ceremony will be televised live on the morning of Monday, September 19, on M-Net channel 101 at 2am, and during prime time the awards show will be broadcast at 7.30pm.