Editing Game of Thrones (section)

=== Conception and development ===
The series began development in January 2007.<ref>Michael Fleming. "HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series." ''Variety''[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957532?refCatId=14]</ref> HBO, after acquiring the rights to the novels with the intent of turning them into an international cable television series, hired David Benioff and D. B. Weiss to write and executive produce the series, which would cover one novel's worth of material per season.<ref>Michael Fleming. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957532?refCatId=14/ "HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series."]  ''Variety''</ref> Initially, it was planned that Benioff and Weiss would write every episode save one per season, which author and co-executive producer George R. R. Martin was attached to write.<ref>Benioff, David; D. Weiss (2008-11-19). [http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/32275-hello-from-benioff-and-weiss/page__st__40__p__1593863#entry1593863/ "Hello from Benioff and Weiss"]. Westeros: The A Song of Ice and Fire Domain.</ref><ref>Michael Fleming. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957532?refCatId=14/ "HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series."]. ''Variety''</ref> However, [[w:Jane Espenson|Jane Espenson]] and Bryan Cogman were later added to each write one episode of the first season.<ref>Martin, George R. R. (2010-07-16). [http://grrm.livejournal.com/164794.html From HBO], Not a Blog, LiveJournal.</ref>

"''[[w:The Sopranos|The Sopranos]]'' in Middle-earth" is the tagline Benioff jokingly suggested for the television adaptation, referring to its intrigue-filled content and dark tone set in a fantasy world setting.<ref>Kachka, Boris (2008-05-18). [http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/47040/"Dungeon Master: David Benioff"]. New York Magazine 2008 (May 26).</ref> Traditional high fantasy is described as generally incidental to the series, with HBO programming chief Michael Lombardo finding the storytelling appealing rather than the low-key magic or the exotic milieu, in spite of the network’s new developmental policy to "take shots at shows that we wouldn’t have taken a shot at five years ago."<ref>Hibberd, James (January 14, 2010). [http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/01/hbo-games-of-thrones-dailies-look-fantastic.html "HBO: 'Game of Thrones' dailies 'look fantastic'"]. The Live Feed. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 24, 2010.</ref><ref>Rice, Lynette (January 8, 2010). [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20333840,00.html "A Network Gets Its Bite Back"]. Entertainment (Entertainment Weekly) (1084).</ref> 

The ''Game of Thrones budget has been compared to that of ''[[w:Rome (TV series)|Rome]].''<ref>Rice, Lynette (January 8, 2010). [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20333840,00.html "A Network Gets Its Bite Back"]. Entertainment (Entertainment Weekly) (1084).</ref> The pilot reportedly cost HBO between US$ 5–10 million,<ref>Hibberd, James (January 14, 2010).  [http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/01/hbo-games-of-thrones-dailies-look-fantastic.html  "HBO: 'Game of Thrones' dailies 'look fantastic'"]. The Live Feed. The  Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 24, 2010.</ref> and the total budget for the first season has been estimated at US$50–60 million.<ref>[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/game-thrones-by-numbers-178659 'Game Of Thrones' by The Numbers.] Lesley Goldberg, April 14, 2011|. The Hollywood Reporter</ref>

HBO hired expert language creator David J. Peterson from the Language Creation Society to develop the [[w:Dothraki language|Dothraki language]] — "possessing its own unique sound, extensive vocabulary of more than 1,800 words and complex grammatical structure" — to be used in the series.<ref>Time (2010-04-12). [http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/04/12/today-in-fictional-language-news-hbo-speaks-dothraki/ "Today in Fictional-Language News: HBO Speaks Dothraki"]. Press release.</ref> The first and second drafts of the [[w:pilot episode|pilot]] script, written by Benioff and Weiss, were submitted in August 2007<ref>Hudson, Laura (2007-08-14). [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6468840.html%20Publishers%20Weekly%20interview "Talking with George R. R. Martin Part 2"]. Publishers Weekly.</ref> and June 2008,<ref>Martin, George R. R. (2008-06-13). [http://grrm.livejournal.com/2008/06/13/ "Ice & Fire on HBO"]. Not a Blog. LiveJournal.</ref> respectively. While HBO found both drafts to their liking,<ref>Kirschling, Gregory (2007 November). [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20161804,00.html "By George!"].</ref> Entertainment Weekly.<ref>Martin, George R. R. (2008-06-13). [http://grrm.livejournal.com/2008/06/13/ "Ice & Fire on HBO"]. Not a Blog. LiveJournal.</ref> a pilot was not ordered until November 2008,<ref>Littleton, Cynthia (November 11, 2008). [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995693.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 "Fantasy sits on Thrones"]. Variety.com. Retrieved March 11, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/11/hbo-orders-fant.html "HBO orders fantasy pilot Thrones"]. THR.com. November 11, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2010.</ref> with the [[w:2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike|2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike]] possibly delaying the process.<ref>Kirschling, Gregory (2007 November). [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20161804,00.html "By George!"].</ref>