New set rises on Belfast as pre-production ramps up for Game of Thrones spin-off!

706 - Night King Frozen Lake

While our gazes are understandably focused on tomorrow’s season eight premiere, that’s not all that’s happening in the world of Game of Thrones, as pre-production continues for Jane Goldman’s prequel, reportedly set during the Long Night, starring the likes of Naomi Watts, Miranda Richardson, John Simm, and many others.

At Paint Hall Studios on Belfast, Northern Ireland, which Game of Thrones used for almost a decade and the spin-off has now taken over, a new set is being erected…

We thank @BloodmoonIRL for the following photos, which prominently show a prop for what looks like a basic pulley system of some sort, as well as a stone structure, with similar buildings in the background as well, hinting at a much larger set to be:

Spin-off Belfast Set Prop Watermarked

Spin-Off Belfast Set Foundations Watermarked

Spin-Off-Paint-Hall-Set-1 Watermarked

Spin-Off-Paint-Hall-Set-2 Watermarked

Spin-Off-Paint-Hall-Set-3 Watermarked

Spin-Off-Paint-Hall-Set-4 Watermarked

These look like ruins of some kind, while the scaffolding to the right is the framework for a gigantic green screen, but there’s not enough detail yet to speculate any more, especially about a story set thousands of years in the past. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to see pre-production is moving along, just as it is reassuring that they’re obviously not skimping on the sets either; ‘season one of Game of Thrones’ budget this ain’t.

Before you go, a reminder: HBO has only greenlit a pilot, which they will then use to judge whether to go ahead with the show. There’s little doubt the prequel will go to series, considering the success of Game of Thrones and the good word behind Jane Goldman’s concept for this new show, but we should still keep in mind they’re only producing—building sets for, and presumably casting for—a single episode.

25 Comments

  1. Only 2 nights of sleep (for me where I live) can’t wait.

    It’s the final countdown.

    And wondering in which part this set could be. Westeros, essos somewhere else?

  2. That’s rather unusual looking, for now.

    We can hope the pilot is good so they get a go for series right away and not have to go through everything D&D did.

    I don’t suppose we have any info on how much if any of GoT crews will also be working on this…

  3. The pre/production news will really help fill the post GOT void that we’re all dreading.

    I have no idea at all what this could be. Is there any new on what’s happening with the KL set.. is it still intact?

  4. Ryan:
    Prequel, not spinoff.

    It’s both. It spins off of the original show, from a real world perspective, not narratively. From a story POV, yes, it’s set in the past so it’s a prequel.

  5. 25 More Hours!!!!

    (I hope the premiere is better than the 25th Hour, screenplay by David Benioff.)

  6. Clob,

    “That’s rather unusual looking, for now.”

    ______
    My first thought when I saw that weirdly shaped scaffolding is that they’re…

    …. making a huge idol a la the biblical Golden Calf.

  7. spacechampion,

    First of all there is nothing wrong with that movie, in fact it’s sitting at 7.7 on imdb and is regarded as one of the better Spike Lee movies that he directed it and second of all it’s based on a novel that Benioff wrote .

  8. spacechampion,

    Isn’t that pretty much universally considered a good movie? 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. 67 on Metacritic. 7.7/10 on IMDb.

    Benioff also wrote the novel the movie was based on. Weird thing to knock Benioff on.

  9. Pigeon:
    All hail the Giant Stone Chicken.

    🤣🤣
    I was thinking it might be our rascally old friend the Lotd of Light inducing deluded followers into tossing people into a burning statute or something. You know how he likes f*cking with people’s minds.

  10. Ten Bears: 🤣🤣
    I was thinking it might be our rascally old friend the Lotd of Light inducing deluded followers into tossing people into a burning statute or something. You know how he likes f*cking with people’s minds.

    “OH NO, NOT THE BEEEEEES!!!!!” 🐝

  11. OMG! I am so excited for this. Could that be part of the wall being build? It looks a bit like that though perhaps doesn’t make much sense given the time period?

  12. So I presumed the set for Kings Landing outside the Paint Hall Studios has been removed? I thought that (or part of it) may have been left as a tourist attraction.

  13. So I guess the beginning of June is official… HBO’s Sunday night drama slot will see GoT being followed by BLL starting June 9th; doubling up by adding Euphoria as well the next week. Months ago I was really hoping Demimonde would be ready. I guess that and His Dark Materials have to wait until later this year. Who knows how long it will take them to get out S3 of Westworld.? That could end up being as far out as the GoT prequel. I’m not that into WW though so I’m looking for the new shows to fill my time.

    I believe the consensus is that The Witcher will premiere on Netflix around December (they’re filming now). People like to binge the full season dumps, but I still think it’s a detriment to fan communities like we have here. I’d think it would be hard to maintain and sustain an active tv show fan community when everyone watches all the episodes in a couple of days and then the buzz wears off.

  14. Clob,

    * adding… The Wheel of Time series for Amazon is still the one I’m most interested in since I also read (most of) those books. It might be the most difficult one to pull off well though. They are supposedly starting production this Fall so if all goes well we’ll have that one next year too.

  15. Clob: I guess that and His Dark Materials have to wait until later this year.

    I’m looking forward to this adaptation of Pullman’s excellent series. Hope they pull no punches, unlike the weak film version of the first novel (The Golden Compass). It seems like a fine time to bring Pullman’s biting social commentary and anti-religious fantasy to the forefront, given the ridiculous rhetoric that leaders and politicians hide behind these days. Just wait…I predict the insecure lobbyists and nonsecular talkboxes will try to flay this effort before it is previewed. I hope it succeeds despite the idiocy.

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