A recent episode Scriptnotes, a podcast padcast lead by director and screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin, has revealed that the first episode for Game of Thrones could have been very different… Very horribly different. Luckily for us, this wasn't the first episode that we saw – otherwise we might be going into the sixth season on April 24.
According to the show's creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff, when the duo screened the original pilot to a group friends, one of which was Mazin, they were quickly informed that they had a 'massive problem.
Weiss recalled the original pilot's screening as being extremely distressing. “Watching them watch that original pilot was one of the most painful experiences of my life," recalled Weiss. "As soon as it finished, Craig [Mazin] said, ‘You guys have a massive problem.’”
Co-creator Benioff's recollection of the events isn't too far from Weiss,' as they both recognized Mazin saying they had a 'massive problem.' However, Benioff goes on to add that Mazin didn't have any decent ideas to make the pilot better, just that it needed fixing.
“I was taking notes and I had this yellow legal pad, and I just remembered writing in all caps, ‘MASSIVE PROBLEM,’ and it’s all I could think about the rest of the night. Craig didn’t really have any great ideas except that he said ‘change everything.’”
The showrunners nearly changed every aspect of the show after Mazin's comments. They admitted to reshooting '92%' of the show, doing extensive recasting and rewriting key scenes.
When Mazin went to Game of Throne's official premiere, he was shocked to see how much had changed.
“I will never forget being invited to the premiere of the first season. I went in just thinking (skeptically), ‘Well, I guess we’ll just see how this goes.' I sat there and this show unfolds and I am stunned. Stunned," said Mazin.
"And I very specifically remember walking out and I said to [Weiss and Benioff], ‘That is the biggest rescue in Hollywood history.’ Because it wasn’t just that they had saved something bad and turned it really good. You had saved a complete piece of shit and turned it into something brilliant. That never happens!”
[via GamesRadar]
