Actor and director Tom McCarthy (The Visitor) is being lined up to helm HBO's fantasy pilot ‘Game of Thrones,’ which is scheduled to shoot in Northern Ireland later this year.

Director Tom McCarthy has acted in ‘The Wire’ ‘Duplicity’ and ‘Syriana’ as well as directing ‘The Station Agent’ and ‘The Visitor’.

Industry reports suggest actor Peter Dinklage also looks set to star in the pilot. Dinklage, whose credits include ‘The Station Agent’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, previously featured in ‘Lassie’ filmed in Ireland in 2005.

‘A Game of Thrones’ based on novelist’s George R.R. Martin's best-selling "Songs of Fire and Ice", is described as a fight for power set in a fantasy kingdom.

Screenwriters David Benioff (The Kite Runner) and D.B. Weiss penned the adaptation and are the executive producers. Mark Huffam, from Northern Ireland based Generator Entertainment, will be producing with Frank Doelger (Rome).

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