Winter has come to Game of Thrones, and with it, a change of location is needed.
Icelandic news is reporting today that for filming of season 7, the show will be returning to Iceland. According to Vísir, HBO representatives have met with production companies in the country about filming, and the show will be shooting in January.
Furthermore, Vísir shares rumors out of Iceland that refer to “six major characters” from the show being part of these Icelandic scenes. The most likely location in this case is Winterfell, which saw the arrival of winter and heavy snows in the season finale. Jon, Sansa, Littlefinger, Tormund, and Davos are based in Winterfell at the moment, and several others are headed toward the castle as of the season finale and could be counted as the sixth. Bran Stark and Meera are traveling south toward the Wall and Winterfell, as Arya and Brienne are likely going to head north. Not to mention Sandor Clegane is with the Brotherhood without Banners, who also mentioned their intention to ride north.
The most likely sixth is Brienne, but speculation is always fun, right?
Throughout the last several years, Iceland has served a number of purposes for Game of Thrones, lending its icy vistas to create the territory beyond the Wall. The Riverlands of Westeros were largely filmed in Iceland throughout season 4, as well, with Arya and the Hound scenes being shot there on location. With winter’s arrival, though, it’s probable the show is once again taking advantage of the cold beauty of the country and showing a northern location like Winterfell.
January way too late, unless you’re talking about a August start date……Hodor
HODOR?
Mannis,
It’s not really. They went into late December/early January for season 6.
Sue the Fury,
A minimum bit of filming in December potentially as per previous years, but filming in January is unheard of…happy to be proved wrong with examples.
Mannis,
“season 6”
Great news. Iceland always looked great, especially when they went to film there in Winter for seasons two and three. Such amazing vistas. Looking forward to seeing them again, especially now that winter has come.
I hope this means we get The Land of Always Winter
Kit, I’m sure will be delighted to go back to Iceland, so it would be great if it was him. I’m sure Sophie, Liam, Gwen etc would love the experience as well. It looks like such an amazing country. My partner has just been there and it’s now his favourite place in the world.
They finished major filming last year mid to late December, right before holidays. I recall that. This year, they already specified that they are delaying start due to necessity for a colder climate….so January filming sounds about right. Regarding season 7 start time, probably in May.
Sue, anyone…are start dates based on editing (meaning how long it takes them to edit each episode) or because of HBO’s scheduling calendar? If a bit of both, then no worries about them filming in January or even February….they can still turn it around for a May debut.
Sounds a bit silly filming in Iceland in the middle of winter. They’re likely to be shut down by blizzards.
Sue the Fury,
As far as I know they only shot some of Emilia’s scenes with the dragons in January. Did they also film anything else in January?
I do think it’s the first time they shoot in location (not studio) in January. I could be wrong…
The Icelandic winter is relatively mild for its latitude. The southerly lowlands of the island average around 0 °C (32 °F) in winter, while the Highlands of Iceland tend to average around −10 °C (14 °F). The lowest temperatures in the northern part of the island range from around −25 to −30 °C (−13 to −22 °F). The lowest temperature on record is −39.7 °C (−39.5 °F).
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was spotted on a plane to Iceland (Copenhagen>Reykjavik) this past weekend. Yes, too early for filming. But…maybe… who knows!
“The most likely sixth is Brienne”? What about young Podrick – being kept as a love-slave in the Riverlands?
Are these outdoor scenes, or do they shoot indoor scenes there too?
If it is in January and they are filming in sequence, it maybe hard to predict who the 6 major characters. Who knows, maybe Dany, Arya and Tyrion reach the North by the season 7 finale, or Winter reaches them. At this point, those characters could be anyone.
The problem is, if they want to show that winter has come to Westeros in general, this could really be anywhere. I agree that it’s most likely Winterfell, but I wouldn’t rule out Riverlands/Vale areas as well (which Iceland has also been used for) where the following characters were last seen: Brienne, Pod, BwB, the Hound, Arya, possibly Melisandre.
Maybe they don’t ever start production in September?
Yay Iceland! The cooler the weather, the more I love this show. ?
A branch of the Gulf Stream flows around the southern and western sides of Iceland, moderating the temperatures.
He’ll probably enjoy filming there a whole lot more without a broken ankle this time!
The light coating of fake snow everywhere wasn’t cutting it after the Iceland scenes of previous seasons. It was really the one obvious area where the tv budget was peaking through the otherwise movie quality visuals.
Pretty sure all the indoor scenes are shot on sound stages in Northern Ireland.
But not as much without Rose?
iridium,
Gwen has already filmed in Iceland for season 4, the Hound fight was shot there on location.
Really happy for the country of Iceland, I know they’ve been experiencing an economic crisis in recent years. With their football team doing amazingly well at the Euro 2016 and now GoT planning to shoot there for what Im assuming will be an extended period, it should give them a nice boost.
With some reports S7 may begin as late as August, January shooting in Iceland would make sense. As eager as I am for S07E01, I want to see gorgeous vistas, not fake, sound stage reproductions or copious CG landscapes.
I’m still hoping for Tormund/Brienne.
And lots more Lyanna Mormont putting everyone in their place.
Hey Sue,
Who was on the crosses Ramsay was burning? It was all over the internet that you “knew.” Did something change?
Iceish Warrior,
And today I woke up from a dream where some men visited Kings Landing and gave Jaime a light blue folder (lol) which meant he was “invited” to lead Castle Black. I was so hyped in the dream.
Why do I see this series even in my nights u.u
The Lady Daisy,
Hmm… waiting 14 months for the continuation of a story one is fully invested in is really pushing it imo. Babies will be conceived, born and already eating rice cereal before the next season starts!
It’s not the weather so much as the short daylight hours in midwinter that is a serious issue. They will have very little bright daylight so far north, as little as 5 hours and some of that will be virtual twilight especially if it is overcast, with the sun only a few degrees above the horizon.
It’s bad enough at 51°N !
The Lady Daisy,
With some reports S7 may begin as late as August, January shooting in Iceland would make sense.
Where have you seen reports saying the season may begin as late as August? I mean actual reports, not just fan speculation. The only official comments I’ve seen from the show runners said the season 7 premier ‘would probably be a bit later’ than the usual April because they were ‘starting a bit later’.
My guess is if they do only have seven episodes they could still premier in mid-May (a ‘bit’ later) and end the season on the last weekend of June same as this year.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
If the long night arrives, they won’t need any daylight! The common guess is the Wall will fall in the season finale, so the long night will probably happen only in S8.
Still, with Winter here, they will need these overcast, grey conditions. Filming in such weather will be extremely hard, I guess.
Looking forward to some spectacular night scenes backlit by aurorae.
Im kinda sad winter has come to the show, its hard to do spectacular battles involving horses and what not when you are knee deep in snow.
🙁
The Lady Daisy,
I thought those reports referred to filming would begin in August, which is later than usual.
praedictus,
Oh that would be soo cool!
I really hope they don’t film the long night. My biggest complaint with the show visually right now is it’s way too dark. No matter how I set my television, it’s hard to see anything when they film indoors with candlelight or at night.
I’m fairly certain Kit’s acting suffered in the earlier seasons when he was filming outdoors in Iceland; just too cold/not enough daylight to get enough takes. I hope the production’s figured out a way to deal with that this time.
Wow January? Filming ended mid December last year. I’m not expecting Season 7 to premiere until late 2017. They really are hyping the “Winter is here”, so I see Season 7 premiering in the Winter to coincide with that.
Now you’ve got me trying to remember who it is, in the books, who has a vision or dream of the Land of Always Winter with the aurora happening. Kind of odd that all these Northerners never mention seeing one, but maybe on Planetos you have to be at a super-high latitude.
Mostly I want to see some realistic deep-snow scenes, where mobility is genuinely affected! Maybe they’ll figure out that they can outrun the shambling wights on cross-country skis or snowshoes.
Darjan,
Sophie also filmed in Iceland for Season 4 (the scene at the Bloody Gate; from the DVD commentary, the main thing she took away from it was the huge swarms of mosquitos).
The Icelandic scenery is certainly beautiful, though as I said in the past, I got the impression that filming in Iceland in wintertime imposed significant constraints on filming that were reflected in the final product. Jon’s scenes got markedly better once he stopped filming in those conditions — which was particularly evident in Season 3, when the Iceland-set scenes were phased out midway through.
Get a bias light for your TV, really helps with darker scenes.
Nope, you’re not. In a previous thread I predicted that Arya will poison Cersei using the Strangler.
August?!! oh hell no, I couldn’t stand that. Fooling with the schedules that way wouldn’t be wise. We, as rabid fans, will still keep our interest going as best we can on this site, maybe even drifting to others (I know, perish the thought) if need be. But the average viewer forgets, and loses interest when the schedule is messed with too much. The momentum is lost.
Besides, isn’t there a cut-off date for consideration for 2017 Emmy noms? I remember reading here something to the effect that to be considered, the episode has to have aired by a certain date in June. They will want the finale to have aired before that date. With only seven episodes, they could start a little later that normal, but would have to finish by the end of June, else GoT wouldn’t be a contender for the 2017 Emmys. I would think they wouldn’t want to lose or lessen the momentum they already have going by skipping a year. Nooooo, not August. PUHLEEZ not August.
More on topic, poor Kit. He had made comments about wishing to film in a warmer climate, and Jon wanted to get away to someplace warm. He should be on a Dornish beach with some crazy Dornish Bad Pussy. Thank goodness Iceland is at least beautiful and there’s supposed to be some fun night life.
what’s the Strangler?
I still think a commando team has to penetrate to the Land of Always Winter and neutralize the WWs energy source and terraforming machineries.
Firannion,
Maybe Planetos does not have aurorae because it’s magnet field is different from Earth’s.
When the red comet started off ASoIaF, I wondered what change it caused to wake the WWs. A change to Planetos’s magnetic field? The lack of aurorae could be part of that.
Bran’s first vision looked to the north to the energy curtain there and beyond to the reason he must live because “winter is coming.”
Iceland in January?? I have been there in September and even then it was polar.
Thronetender,
The poison that killed Joffrey, I think.
Sou,
”Winter has come. If the maesters are right, it’ll be the coldest one in a thousand years.”
She said filming would begin next month instead of this month like usual. She said nothing about Season 7 premiering in August.
I don’t have any problems seeing everything clearly on either of my tvs. It’s surprising that you can’t adjust the brightness to make it better. When you say ‘too dark’ I know what you mean when I watch on my phone. With that though all I do is turn off the ‘automatic brightness’ in my display settings and it too is perfect.
https://youtu.be/X0jSP1Pwrtc
Amazing Jon Snow tribute video
Sou,
Perhaps, even more than the cold, what the production is looking for is darkness.
In December/January, Icelandic daylight is in short supply. So, if the writers have planned for many exterior scenes at night (and in the snow), Iceland offers them the perfect combo : gorgeous frozen decors and 16-hour nights. Plenty of times for many takes if need be.
I’m psyched to hear this! Iceland looked gorgeous on screen, and trust me I have been there in January, it is possible! 😉 Major problem will be lack of daylight for shooting if they need day scenes.. Fun times for the cast! Lots of drinking, lol…
The most interesting question is why they need it. Basically, it implies that 6 main characters will go beyond the Wall and team-Jon is the first guess. However, what about team-Dany? Now she is sailing towards KL or Dorne but what if she encounters a storm and/or Euron in the Narrow Sea and is carried further north eventually being forced to land near or even beyond the Wall? Little hope, but I would welcome such twist.
Inga,
Iceland could be used for filming beyond the Wall, in the North now that winter is here, in the Vale and even the Riverlands.
Filming there doesn’t necessarily mean characters are going beyond the Wall.
Jack Bauer 24,
She said filming would begin next month instead of this month like usual. She said nothing about Season 7 premiering in August.
No, The Lady Daisy did not say ‘filming’ in the comment that Thronetender was replying to. She said “With some reports S7 may begin as late as August, January shooting in Iceland would make sense“. She may have meant that was when season 7 filming was reported to be starting, but that’s not what she actually wrote and so her comment can be taken to mean she’s saying that’s when season 7 will premier.
Jack Bauer 24,
Wow January? Filming ended mid December last year. I’m not expecting Season 7 to premiere until late 2017. They really are hyping the “Winter is here”, so I see Season 7 premiering in the Winter to coincide with that.
I don’t see how filming a few weeks later than last season somehow equates to the show airing months later. I think when D&D said the show would premier a ‘bit later’ than usual they meant exactly that – a bit. I expect the premier to be in mid-May next year.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
I know, but take a look from another angle and make some speculation. Which of the story-lines may need filming outdoors in a rather unfavorable conditions?
Hardly it could be the Vale. I can imagine Sansa and LF going to Robin to bring that story-line to some resolution, but the only outdoors scene I can imagine in this context is passing through the Bloody Gates, which would be short and unimportant and hardly worth going to Iceland with six main characters and the entire crew. Of cause, if Cersey sends her army to take the Vale, while its knights are hanging in the North and Jon and co. are forced to go to rescue Robin, outdoor scenes involving a lot of main characters will be inevitable, but such turn is hardly possible, because Cersey will have other things to do.
The Riverlands are more promising. There are a lot of people on the road and Arya, Brienne & Podric, and the BwB & Sandor have to meet somehow. However, these meetings are to happen early in the season, which implies that the area won’t be experiencing a full-sale winter yet. Of cause, there is still Edmure and the whole issue of power vacuum after the death of Walder Frey, but that will hardly involve any filming in Iceland (IMHO, most of that story will be wrapped off-screen).
Therefore, Iceland should mean the North and probably the North beyond the Wall, because there will hardly be a lot of scenes of travelling on the southern side: Jon may go from Winterfell to Castle Black and to the Wildling camp, but again filming that would be hardly worth the effort. At least this is my guess and I would welcome any other idea as well, because I am not that good at predictions (it’s just for fun).
Lord of Coffee,
I guess it depends on the amount of CGI they will have to put into these scenes.
Well it is GoT and Iceland related!
While this storyline may indeed be dropped so to speak and resolved offscreen, it may just as well play a rather important part in the next season.
Season 6 was a lot of set-up for the third act. The writers could have let go of the Riverlands storyline altogether and not mentioned it at all. Yet, they made a big point of reminding us that the Tullys are still a force to be reckoned with, if need be.
With the Blackfish gone and the Freys supposedly in disarray after Walder’s death, they have made it possible for Edmure to regain control of his family’s army and of his region, thereby making it important to figure out for whom he intends to declare, if for anyone at all. Will he pledge to House Stark, even though a) the Riverlands are not part of the North, b) he is in no way, shape or form connected to Jon, the proclaimed head of the House, and c) while it may be difficult for Cersei’s army to attack the Vale or the North, the Riverlands are quite easily reachable for her ? Will he try to stay neutral and have to be convinced ?
As for Iceland… It is a very tough call. It could be used for scenes beyond the Wall, or for scenes in the North or the Riverlands or the Vale. But, quite frankly, I suppose it could also, depending on which area of Iceland the producers selected, it could just as well serve as a decor for scenes in the north of the Westerlands or the Crownlands (no idea why the show would go there, but why the hell not ? ^^)
I’ve been reading the Emmy rules and procedures for eligibility and the “hanging episodes rule.” I’m seeing that they can’t move it back even one more week from this year’s same starting weekend and be eligible. Maybe many of you already know all this… Many people don’t care about awards and their shows. It may not be quite as important for GoT going forward, but I generally do care because it puts programs and those involved in the limelight and headlines. It’s a good thing for young shows to gain the rep and buzz and I always believe award winning shows are less likely to get cut. No fear for GoT with any of that, but still.
2. To be eligible, a program must have its “premiere” airing during the eligibility period. This “premiere” must be the first airing and promoted and reviewed as such.
The eligibility for 2017 will be June 1, 2016 – May 31, 2017. Basically, they’d have to premiere season 7 by May 31st next year for starters, BUT, also be qualified as a “series” by the deadline. The current definition of a “series” is six or more episodes. This year they aired episode 6 on May 29th, two days before the deadline. In 2017 they’d have to premiere the same weekend naturally (April 23rd) to be able to air six episodes before May 31st and be eligible. That is if I’m reading it correctly.
I think we all knew that they were already sitting tight this year with eligibility. So I guess we are indeed looking at season 7 being 2018 Emmy eligible if it starts a month or two later at the earliest. Having it’s run so far before the voting process and being “cold” will probably mean fewer nominations too, imo.
14c. Hanging Episodes for series eligibility: If an ongoing series has enough episodes in the current eligibility year to qualify as a series and has one or more episodes that are part of the series season, included the season/series finale, that fall into the subsequent eligibility year, the “hanging episodes” that are in a contiguous rollout on the same distribution platform join in eligibility the already-qualified-as-eligible episodes of the series, as long as the hanging episodes air prior to the return of the first round ballots.
This explains how episodes 7-10 for season 6 are included in this season’s eligibility. Episode 10 was on June 26th so it aired one day before the return of the first round ballots on June 27th. Of course, their inclusion in 2016 eligibility eliminates them from 2017 eligibility.
This is great news. They should do this in previous seasons too. It’s probably just me, but I’m very annoyed when there should be at least few inches of snow and I only see colored ground and trees. It just not looks persuasive at all. For me it was very annoying to see how Stannis “stucked” in the “snow” but there was just colored ground …
So if they will really go to Iceland, where the real snow is, then this is super great news, because scenes from there in season 2 and 3 were really great.
ACME,
Yes, I would like to see Edmure and his poor wife getting some pay-off for their sufferings, but: 1) the Riverrun set is in Northern Ireland; 2) there is no-one to command Cersey’s troops, unless the writers introduce some general. IMHO, Jamie will break with Cersey early in the season – that deadly look he gave her must get some further development, though I don’t think he will kill her in ep1 – killing Cersey will require killing the Mountain first, and that will probably involve Sandor & Arya, so, that’s for the season finalle. Anyway, Riverlands plot can be done without filming in Iceland, IMHO.
Well, I do love the scenes we got in Iceland in the past and I’m really happy for their economy. Any boost is a good one. It does appear that the end result of doing “much” filming in January could mean a later start, but I am pretty sure it will be worth the wait. I can’t believe we are moving forward to the end game.:(
One thing, everyone from Essos is gonna have to get a warmer set of costumes for season 7.
First, Jon has to solidify his hold in the North before he even reaches to other regions. All bannerman must swear fealty , House Umber deposed because they gave up Rickon, the wildlings rewarded, who gets the dreadford, and the issue with their cousins House Karstark. He also needs to call himself Stark. Jon will never know his true parents, i dont know if bran will ever tell him out of fear it might tear the north apart. Second, Edmure Tully has to be rescued and restored as the lord of the riverlands. Thats the only way the Riverlands will join his kingdom. Third, both him and Sansa have to marry to further the Stark name as the House is in the brink of extinction. And fourth, after solidifying his army and having the Vale and Trident in his kingdom then he can worry about the WW.
Cercei will be taken care off by Danny.
Simon,
no way keep the film rolling! Winter is here and we need those blizzards 😉
This is an interesting predicament the show has created. Cersei has seemingly done too much damage to retain any allegiance other than a forced following of the ‘Queensguard’ and Lannister army. She’s pissed off the entire South, which if united is far too strong for Cersei. Randyll Tarly WOULD have been a good commander… but siding with her now doesn’t make any sense.
I care, too. A monumental amount of work and planning is done by every member of the cast, crew and production team to get these amazing episodes on air. That work should be recognized. Thank you, Clob, for looking this up and sharing it. It gives us insight into how scheduling decisions are made.
There has been a press release from HBO apparently. I noticed it on a tweet by the westersos.org site. It says next season will be seven episodes and will air in summer 2017.
http://www.westeros.org/GoT/News/Entry/Game_of_Thrones_Filming_This_Summer?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Dann this will be the final Emma’s run for them this September then.
It was unlikely he would ever have sided with Cersei anyway, considering he heads the army for the Tyrells, and Olenna is adamantly anti-Cersei. Whether or not Randyll remains loyal to Olenna is another question. There was never any indication of disloyalty toward the Tyrells mentioned or hinted at, but if old Randyll gets even more ambitious, he might decide that House Tarly should be the ruling house of the land, overthrow everybody and declare himself king. Then it would be he who has to deal with Dany.
Cersei looks to be beset from all sides, and may have even antagonized Jaime so much that he pulls away, taking the Lannister army with him. Although, I don’t know if that’s possible, if she’s queen. All of you are sure he’s going to kill her, but the Valonqar prophecy of the books was specifically deleted when Maggy the Frog was shown, and has never even been hinted at on the show. It could be that D&D have some other end in mind for Cersei. Maybe the last face Cersei ever sees will be Olenna’s.
ACME,
” they have made it possible for Edmure to regain control of his family’s army and of his region, thereby making it important to figure out for whom he intends to declare”
It seams the deal he made with Jamie, to raise his child at The Rock, was not honored as he was back in a cell at the Twins. I think he has to join the North as the Lanisters are the reason he is where he is at.
So it has begun, the slow trickle of information that will allow each and everyone of you to figure out every scene from every episode before the first trailer even airs. Then I shall be ridiculed and have my life threatened when I avoid such information and make intelligent, rational complaints about the season when I find that it’s too predictable and anti-climactic. However, I shall continue to risk my life in signing onto this site by expressing dissenting opinions in the name of free speech.
summer means after June 21st, right? OMG a whole year to wait. You guys on this site are great GoT companions, but how the heck am we gonna make it a whole year. Ye gods, what annoying news.
Jack Bauer 24,
Why do you say that? They’ll still be in the Emmy’s, they just won’t be eligible for the 2017 Emmy’s and season 7 will be eligible for the 2018 Emmy’s instead. Season 8 will be eligible for 2019.
Halfman,
I can almost hear the rejoicing from all the other programs that two dozen Emmy categories just opened up for easier nominations in 2017.
I guess it will be nice to have GoT to watch when there’s practically nothing else to watch.
Jack Bauer 24,
Why can’t they run for the 2018 Emmys?They would just be taking a year off
It ‘worked’ in the book and could have in the show but that storyline would have had to happen early in season six. They took it another direction. I’m curious to see what Cersei does in the next book. If it’s anything close to the show Randyll could be a casualty.
Clob,
I guess it was inevitable. Although it’s only seven episodes, I get the impression filming will probably take as long as ten episodes did previously. They’ve delayed filming by a couple of months so the air date would also be a couple of months later than usual.
I would love this outcome, if they’re going to toss the Valonqar Prophecy out the window anyway. Can’t wait to see stupid, vicious, narcissistic Cersei fall, permanently (though I will miss Lena Headey once she’s gone).
The first time I became aware of Lena Heady was as Gorgo, the gorgeous Spartan queen in the film 300. Gorgo was so good, so honorable, so loving of her husband, King Leonidas. What perfect casting, I thought, another regal role for this lovely lady. It took me too long to realize Cersei is the flip side of Gorgo, regal but wretchedly proud and hateful. Lena plays each side beautifully. I’m not rooting for Cersei, exactly, but it’s always interesting to see what’s in store for her. Hers has to be a spectacular end, with a great build up, at least as satisfying as seeing Ramsay go to hell. This Queen deserves no less.
Sweetie, express all the opinions you want, at least they are usually entertaining. Just don’t come in with the expectation of always being a dissenter just for the sake of dissension. You block out a lot of good stuff when you do that. Promise that if you see something good, you will be positive about it 🙂
Some the Vale scenes were also filmed in Iceland. The narrow gorge approach to the Aerie was filmed at the Thingvellir National Park near Reykjavik. So it’s possible they may not be filming north of the Wall scenes.
I guess I’ll be hanging out with some GOT people in January. 🙂
Thronetender,
oh I don’t, I give credit where it’s due.