Game of Thrones prequel ‘Bloodmoon’: from cast to release date, everything we know so far “My expectation is it will be great”

The long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel series is set to begin production in Belfast soon.

Word was that the show began shooting last year, but HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys told Hollywood Reporter, “We’re shooting the pilot in June.”

“This is a pilot, so we’re doing it the old-fashioned way, which is shooting a pilot. My expectation is it will be great.”

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The show – once tentatively titled ‘The Long Night’, but now shooting under the codename ‘Bloodmoon’ – is reportedly set to film at The Paint Hall in Belfast’s Titanic Quarters.

Once a place where the component parts of ships were painted in climate controlled conditions, the studio was used to shoot many of Game of Thrones’ interior shots.

Here’s everything we know about it.

What will Bloodmoon be about?

Set some 10,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones, Bloodmoon “really puts the ‘pre’ in ‘prequel,'” according to Game of Thrones’ author George R.R. Martin , “since it is set not 90 years before Game of Thrones, or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years.”

It will begin during The Age of Heroes, and chronicle how the continent descended into darkness.

The period is named for the men and women who lived in the years of peace following the signing of a pact between the First Man and the children of the forest.

Among those heroes are Bran the Builder, who built the Wall and Winterfell and founded House Stark, and Lann the Clever, who took Casterly Rock from the Casterlys and begun the Lannister bloodline.

During The Age of Heroes, around 8,000 years before Aegon I Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros, came The Long Night – a brutal winter which lasted for a generation.

It is during this time that the White Walkers first came into being, so there’s a very good chance they will be a big part of this prequel.

Who will star in it?

Casting is now underway for THE LONG NIGHT, the first of the GAME OF THRONES successor series to ordered to film. HBO has just announced the first cast member: NAOMI WATTS is coming on board as one of our stars. https://t.co/n0XkxsJG03 pic.twitter.com/uNF5mjPNte — George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) October 31, 2018

Some might have assumed that fan favourite characters would be making an appearance in younger form (albeit 10,000 years younger), but that won’t be the case.

Martin said in a blog post that “none of the characters or actors from Game of Thrones will appear in the new show”, so that means we can get ready for a whole cast of new characters.

“I want [the original Game of Thrones] to be its own thing,” HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys told Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t want to take characters from this world that they did beautifully and put them off into another world with someone else creating it.

“George has a massive, massive world; there are so many ways in. That’s why we’re trying to do things that feel distinct — and to not try and redo the same show.”

Heading the new cast is English actress Naomi Watts, who will play “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”.

Watts first gained attention through her role in David Lynch‘s 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive, before playing Rachel Keller in The Ring the following year.

She played Princess Diana in 2013’s Diana, Lesley Truman in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)and Janey-E Jones in 2017’s Twin Peaks revival.

Here’s who else will be appearing:

Naomi Ackie Ackie will be familiar to fans of Channel 4’s comedy drama The Bisexual, in which she played Ruby, though she’s perhaps best known for her role in 2016’s Lady Macbeth, and will be part of the next instalment of the Star Wars saga when Episode IX is released later this year. Denise Gough Irish actress Gough, 38, will be known to gamers as Yennefer of Vengerberg in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but the two time Olivier Award winner has also appeared in films like Colette, and TV series like Apple Tree Yard. Jamie Campbell Bower Bower is best known for his roles as Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Caius in The Twilight Saga, and the young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Ivanno Jeremiah Best known for his role as Max in Channel 4’s robotic sci-fi Humans, Jeremiah also appeared in the ‘Shut Up and Dance’ episode of Black Mirror as ‘Moped Man’. Georgie Henley The 23-year old West Yorkshire actress is best known for her portrayal of Lucy Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia film series. Alex Sharp Sharp made his Broadway and acting debut in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at just 24 in 2014, and is the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. Toby Regbo Actor and musician Regbo has appeared in film, television and theatre. He’s known for his role as young Nemo Nobody in the science fiction drama Mr. Nobody, and Æthelred in the BBC Two series The Last Kingdom. Sheila Atim Atim’s short resumé features a lot of Shakespeare work, including a 2018 adaptation of Twelfth Night that gave a modern update to the Bard’s story.

Who’s creating it?

The prequel series is being created by George R.R. Martin in collaboration with Jane Goldman, the writer behind films such as X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass and the Kingsman movies.

They wrote the story together and will executive-produce, and Goldman is writing the teleplay.

One of Game of Thrones executive producers, Vince Gerardis, is also signed on.

Is it the only spin-off?

Bloodmoon isn’t the only GoT spin-off in the works, and it’s been reported that at least four more are currently in pre-production.

George R.R. Martin himself is being kept very busy, and in a recent blog post, shared what’s on his plate in the wake of Season 8’s finale.

“I’ve got five shows in development at HBO (some having nothing whatsoever to do with the world of Westeros), two at Hulu, one on the History Channel,” he said. “I’m involved with a number of feature projects, some based upon my own stories and books, some on material created by others.

“There are these short films I am hoping to make, adaptations of classic stories by one of the most brilliant, quirky, and original writers our genre has ever produced.”

He’s even working on a video game.

When can I watch it?

As for an official release date, that might be a little way off.

“We’re shooting the pilot in June,” Casey Bloys told Hollywood Reporter, “you can do the math and figure out when it would be on the air.”

“What I’m not doing is working backwards by saying, ‘This has to be on the air by this date,'” he said. “We want to do the best show possible.”

“I don’t want to speculate any dates.”

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