After a production schedule spanning a collective 136 days and three countries, the fourth season of HBO's fantasy series 'Game Of Thrones' wrapped filming in Northern Ireland last night, IFTN has learned.
Following news that the 'Dragon Unit' put the final touches to principal photography in Croatia earlier this month, Belfast's 'Wolf Unit' were announced as having wrapped at approximately 6pm last night, November 21st by crew assistant and 'Behind The Scenes' writer Cat Taylor.
Cast and production crew will take a well-earned rest as season four moves into post-production, having begun principal photography back in July.
Mirroring the epic scale of the series itself, the shoot encompassed three countries in all with Iceland, Croatia and various Northern Irish locations as well as Belfast's Paint Hall combining to portray the various warring kingdoms of Westeros and beyond the sea.
The show has featured an expansive Irish cast including Conleth Hill, Michelle Fairley, Ian McElhinney, Aiden Gillen, Liam Cunningham and the young Jack Gleeson, who plays psychotic boy-king Joffrey Baratheon. Further Irish talent to join the show's fourth season include actor Jane McGrath ('Black Ice'), whose interview with IFTN can be read here.
Created by producers, writers and directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, 'Game of Thrones' is an adaptation of the ongoing bestseller series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' by American author George R. R. Martin, who also serves as executive producer and pens one episode per season on the show.
The series, which airs on Sky Atlantic for Irish and UK audiences, has featured prominently in the news recently, last month alone seeing the cast, crew and original author honoured with a 'Visionary Award' for disability awareness at the Media Access Awards in LA. It has also recently been estimated that the series has so far provided an equivalent boost of €77m to Northern Ireland's economy since production began in 2010.
Among many anticipated events for next season, director Neil Marshall will return to helm to season's penultimate episode after doing the same for season two's 'Blackwater', garnering international acclaim and multiple awards in the process.
Though yet to be announced, in keeping with previous years season four is anticipated to air in Spring 2014. For more information on what season four has in store, watch out for IFTN's upcoming interview with Mr. Marshall himself.
