'Game of Thrones' author on budget limits: 'I'm greedy, I want more'
Published Jun 27 2012, 11:06 BST | By Morgan Jeffery
George R R Martin has admitted that he is sometimes frustrated by the budget limitations on Game of Thrones.The author praised showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, but admitted that he is "greedy" and always wants more visual spectacle.
© HBO
"The show is quite faithful to the books, for the most part," he told Vulture. "But David Benioff and Dan Weiss... it's really their baby.
"They have a very difficult job of trying to tell my story within ten hours [per season], with the limitations of budget. So I understand why many of the changes that are made are made."
Martin described the action-packed episode 'Blackwater' as "spectacular" but admitted that it did not quite match his expectations.
"I'm very, very pleased by the way that episode came out," he insisted. "Nonetheless, would I have liked more? Sure, I would have liked more. I'm very greedy.
"But if we had added [more] to the Battle of Blackwater Bay, we'd still be shooting it! It would've been impossible - you have to take reality into account."
Martin recently expressed concerns that HBO is producing Game of Thrones faster than he can write his novels, calling the adaptation a "locomotive... bearing down".
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Watch a video recap of the Game of Thrones episode 'Blackwater' below:
@Paul Elliott, Speaking of Legend of the Seeker I actually thought it was a great show, just a shame that as you said it went under the radar for most people. And then cancelled after 2 seasons which I thought was a shame as it had great potential.
It is good to see a good fantasy book getting a lot of exposure because of a popular TV series though. I think changes from the books are to be expected though from what I've seen (yet to see the second season) they've been incredibly faithful. I think the producers and everyone involved with the show have to be commended for that.
June 28th 2012 at 10:14am
It makes me wonder if he hoped the show would not be as popular and trundle along slowly like Legend of the Seeker never gaining viewership and going under the radar to most people.
The pace he writes the books do take ages, but they will be canon and I would expect the show makers to extend certain areas and probably go to filler. The makers of the show have done a fantastic job, but even they know they need to branch away from the books and really it's whether you have faith they can do it as to whether you would want that or not.
Budget will always be an issue, but HBO commited a large chunk of budget to the show, more than most shows and you really can't ask for too much more realistically.
June 27th 2012 at 3:02pm(+2 likes)
They still have a good few years before they fully catch up with the books, especially if season three and four are going to tackle half of book three each. But my prediction is there will be a hiatus (like Breaking Bad) between the final seasons, maybe a year or 18 months delay, should they still be waiting for the publishing of one of the last books.
June 27th 2012 at 5:49pm