By Shania Russell/Oct. 20, 2021 3:25 pm EST
The Cost of Recreating Thrones
“It’s not like we can go say, ‘Oh, you know, Game of Thrones, season one, they only spent this. The audience expectation is coming off of the last season of Game of Thrones, not the first season.”
“The Wheel of Time” showrunner and executive producer Rafe Judkins added:
“One of the crazy things about now is just how ready and willing networks are to just look you in the eye, and you say, ‘I’m going to build the Two Rivers and then we’re going to burn it down at the end of episode one.’ And they’re like: ‘Great. What’s next?’”
The Next Great Fantasy Series?
The complicated truth is that while “Thrones” absolutely amazed with its stunningly detailed dragons and mind-blowing war scenes, that’s not where the show began. Audiences were won over by characters not spectacle. Watching an army get massacred by dragon fire was a great, bloody cherry on top, but before the epic finale, HBO was cutting battle scenes from the story because the budget simply didn’t exist. In its place were brilliant performances, memorable dialogue, and characters worth obsessing over. Production value is a big appeal, but can’t be confused with great TV.
