Variety reported on 17 January 2007 that the rights for A Song of Ice and Fire have been sold to HBO with the intent of turning the novels into a television series. Written and executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the series is expected to cover one novel’s worth of material per season. Martin plans to co-executive produce the series and is expected to write one episode per season. The series is to be filmed in Northern Ireland. Martin reported in August 2007 that the first draft of the script was complete and stated in November that the script was approved and budgeting had begun. At this point the series had still not been officially greenlit, and the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike could have delayed the process.
In April 2008 David Benioff confirmed that development of the script and series was continuing. He suggested a ‘crappy’ tagline for the project could be, “The Sopranos in Middle-earth.” In June, Martin reported in his blog that the second draft of the script was complete, but again a final decision had not been made. If the series were to go ahead, the BBC would also be financially involved much as they were for the HBO series Rome.
In September 2008, according to Martin's not-a-blog, HBO exercised its option to buy the television rights to produce A Game of Thrones. Martin is quick to point out the project has still not been greenlit, but it is an encouraging first step. In November, Variety reported that HBO has committed to filming a pilot episode before a decision is made in regards to filming the entire first book of the series.
In May 2009, Martin's not-a-blog, announced that HBO has selected actor/ director Tom McCarthy as director of the Game Of Thrones pilot. Also, the first cast member, Peter Dinklage, has been cast as Tyrion Lannister. McCarthy and Dinklage previously worked together on "The Station Agent." The pilot episode will be shot in and around Belfast in Northern Ireland during the fourth quarter of 2009.
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