News travels fast across Westeros!

Today, multiple ravens announced that Game of Thrones is headed for the stage!

As this article reports, the wildly (and Wildling) successful HBO series is set to debut in 2023 in NYC, London, and in Australia.  Which will come first?  Who knows, but I doubt Broadway will host the premiere, given our high cost and high stakes (if you make it here you can make it anywhere – and if you DON’T make it here, then good luck elsewhere!).

George R.R. Martin will write the “story” along with Duncan MacMillan (who brought us 1984) and Dominic Cooke will direct.  Simon Painter and Tim Lawson will produce.

So the team is first-rate.

But this will be a challenging one.

I’m always fearful of source material that is SO successful.  It gives you quite a hurdle to jump over.  Harry Potter did an amazing job with their adaptation (and GOT is taken a similar approach in coming up with a new story for the stage version), but it hasn’t been the slam dunk business-wise we all thought it would be (this Producer included).

And this genre has had a checkered past.  Remember Lord of the Rings?  Another celebrated fantasy series that never got all the way here?

Regardless of what happens (and I’ll be praying to the Red God for its success), the fact that a brand this popular sees the theater as an important part of its extension, is another reason why the future of the theater looks bright.

Film, TV, theme parks, merchandising, and yes, the theater.  The most successful entertainment brands in the world should have a piece of everyone.

What do you think about a Game of Thrones theater piece?