Not long ago, we reported on sets going up near the Hidden Village of Galboly in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Purportedly, these will be used as locations on HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, which is set thousands of years before the mainline show.
Now, fansite Watchers on the Wall reports that pre-production looks to have finished, and that filming is officially underway on the pilot for the series (remember, HBO has not ordered the show direct to series; they’re got to prove themselves with a pilot first). Per Watchers, the shoot is taking place in the valley of Glenariff in Northern Ireland. That’s just a few miles from Galbody, so I’m guessing this is the same set.
We’ve seen Glenariff on Game of Thrones. It stood in for Runestone, where Robin Arryn memorably failed to get better at swordplay in season 5.
Does this mean the new show will be set partly in the Vale, or is showrunner Jane Goldman just using it for its natural beauty? We probably won’t know the answer to that one for a while.
There are other rumblings. We’ve also seen structures being built at Titanic Studios in Belfast, long the sight of filming on the mainline show. Wiki of Thrones has a new back angle of one of them:
On top of that, The Sun reports that filming began in Belfast two weeks ago. It also has word on a possible internal title. Said a source:
Thrones fans will be delighted to hear things have started with the prequel. Those working on the set in Belfast are referring to the series as Bloodmoon. Producers have put together a stellar cast and it will be must-watch telly for anyone who loves Game Of Thrones.
Up until now, the most common name for the series has been The Long Night, although nothing is set in stone. It’s hard to know if Bloodmoon is just the internal name for the show, a la the crew working on Return of the Jedi calling it Blue Harvest back in the day, or if it’s something more substantial.
Or it’s complete hogwash. It’s still early days here.
You can see more photos of the Titanic Studios stuff at Wiki of Thrones.
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