Via winter-is-coming.net:
A Storm of Swords US paperbackWe reported on this in another post, but the rumors continue to swirl and so we thought it deserved its own post. We are now hearing from multiple sources that HBO plans to order both seasons three and four and film them back-to-back (à la Lord of the Rings). It has already been confirmed that A Storm of Swords would be covered in more than one season. From what we have heard, much of the film crew in Northern Ireland has been told of this plan and has been advised to expect nine months of filming next year.
Matt Staggs at Suvudu believes there’s truth to the rumour:
While I’ve not received any confirmation regarding this rumor, I don’t find it out of the realm of the possible. For one thing, the show is doing really, really well. I know people who haven’t read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire or even read fantasy in general who won’t miss an episode of the program, and those who have read the series already know that the later books would require more than a season of episodes each for a faithful adaptation.
Really, it makes sense for all the reasons Staggs indicates. The show is becoming something of a cultural phenomenon and the last I heard A Dance with Dragons was the best-selling novel of the year. Not best-selling Fantasy novel, but best selling novel. Period. It might be dethroned by by Paolini’s Inheritance, Grisham’s The Litigators or King’s 11/22/63, but the point remains that a big, juicy adult Fantasy is making waves among mainstream readers in a way that hasn’t happened since, perhaps, Tolkien broke through with Lord of the Rings. What’s not to like for HBO?
Filming back-to-back also isn’t surprising given that seasons three and four of Game of Thrones are rumoured to cover the events of Storm of Swords, the longest volume of the still-to-be-completed series.
