Shooting on a prequel series to Game of Thrones could begin in Belfast in three months, a trade publication for the film and TV industry has indicated.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, is due to hit screens in late 2025, according to the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns the HBO platform.
David Zaslav gave the update last month on the series, which was ordered last April, but there had yet to be confirmation on where the show, which is based on novellas by Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, would be filmed.
Shooting of another Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, was based in England after production of the eight seasons of the original series was based in Belfast, with filming taking place at the city’s Titanic Studios and at locations including Castel Ward in Co Down and Tollymore Forest Park.
It was speculated in November that the latest show set in the fantasy world of Westeros could return to Northern Ireland for production, following a LinkedIn post by a line producer who worked on the original series.
Now trade industry outlet Productionlist.com, operated by the Film & Television Industry Alliance, has seemingly confirmed that shooting on the new prequel will begin in Belfast on June 3, with an update on the website, which tracks pre-production announcements for projects.
A description for the new show states: “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg.
“Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”
The new prequel could last at least three seasons, with the initial season based on the first in a series of four novellas by Martin, who has said he plans to publish more of the stories.
The eight series of Game of Thrones - based on Martin’s five-book fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire - are estimated to have generated around £251 million for the north’s economy.
Fans continue to take part in tours related to the series, while the Game of Thrones Studio Tour opened in Banbridge, Co Down, in 2022.
The new series could see an increase in visitors to the £24m Studio Tour, which despite being nominated one of Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the 2023 World Travel Awards, suffered “substantial operating losses” since opening according to accounts for the year ending September 2022 of the company behind it, Linen Mill Studios Ltd.
