How Many Viewers, Where Were the Scenes Filmed, And More Trivia About Game of Thrones
The eighth and final season of the hit television series Game of Thrones will debut in Asia on Monday, April 15, at 9 am (the same time as the premiere in the U.S.), which is just a few days away from now.
But before plopping yourself on the couch to watch the last season of this insanely popular political drama of families vying for the Iron Throne, think about how well you actually know the series.
Did you know that the color and style of Daenerys' wig took more than two months of testing and seven prototypes? How about the fact that the longest prosthetics application took seven hours to finish (this was for the Children of the Forest and the Mountain)?
If you want to know more trivia about the popular medieval fantasy drama, here are some other quick facts and figures as shared by HBO Asia.
Game of Thrones pulled in more viewers as the story progressed. According to HBO Asia, a total of 32.8 million people in America alone tuned in to the seventh season of the series. This is 3.5 times more the total number of viewers it had during its first season, which was only 9.3 million.
Today, Game of Thrones is televised in 207 countries and territories, and simulcasted in 194. It remains the most-licensed program in the history of HBO, with over 100 licensees all over the world.
Throughout seasons one to eight, the production team filmed in 10 countries. They had been to Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Malta, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, United States, Canada, and Scotland. (See blue icons on map.)
The show’s final season was filmed in Northern Ireland, Spain, Iceland, and Canada.
Ireland was one of the show’s most favorite places to film in. Belfast, in particular, housed the interiors of Winterfell, Castle Black, High Hall of the Eyrie, the Sky Cells in the Eyrie, the Hall of Faces, the House of Black and White, the Great Sept of Baelor, the Great Pyramid of Meereen Throne Room, and the iconic King's Landing Throne Room. All of these were shot in the Titanic Studios.
Overall, there had been 49 locations in Northern Ireland, and one in the Republic of Ireland. The series cast 12,986 extras from Northern Ireland alone and employed over 2,000 Northern Ireland crew members.
And just like the effort the team poured in shooting the scenes, the crew spent plenty of time in post-production, too. They spent 42 weeks processing filmed scenes for GoT’s eighth season, which took about 2.5 times more than the 17 weeks they allotted for post-producing the first season.
The whole series used a total of 40 visual effects houses in 13 countries for post-production. (See red icons on map.) These are located in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Northern Ireland, Spain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, China, France, Sweden, and India.
Here are some other interesting trivia about the show:
