HBO has released a couple of featurettes that center around the most recent episode of Game of Thrones (read Allison’s recap here).  While the network regularly posts such featurettes after the most recent episodes of some of their shows, these two are of particular interest given the surprising turn of events that occurred in “The Rains of Castamere.”  We see series creators/showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff discuss the episode and how the corresponding chapter in the book was one of the main reasons they wanted to turn Game of Thrones into a TV series in the first place, and we also see them talk about the emotional impact of actually filming the episode.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, but beware of major spoilers for “The Rains of Castamere,” obviously.  The season finale of Game of Thrones airs on HBO this coming Sunday, June 9th.

This week on The Collision, we are joined by Allison Keene and Charles Judson.  Our conversation is sparked by a Mad Men spec script from actress Erika Anderson, which brings African-American characters into Matthew Weiner‘s critically acclaimed show.  From there, our conversation expands to explore diversity in popular TV series, if showrunners should feel obligated to diversify their casts, the difficulty in writing minority characters, and much more.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Violence and Evil Dead“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

As if you didn’t see this one coming: HBO has renewed the immensely popular fantasy series Game of Thrones for a fourth season.  The pickup comes just a couple of days after the show’s season three premiere, which pulled in a record-breaking 4.4 million viewers.  The renewal was essentially a foregone conclusion, as Game of Thrones has been a massively profitable series for HBO.  Not only does the show pull in great ratings, but its DVDs and Blu-rays—an incredibly lucrative market for the pay cable network—are record sellers.  Hit the jump for more.

With Game of Thrones returning for Season 3 on March 31^st, the Academy of Television hosted an evening to celebrate the cast and creative team, and the huge success of the popular HBO drama series, while giving a glimpse into what fans can expect as the story continues.  Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what the behind-the-scenes talent had to say during the Q&A.

During the discussion, executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, along with author George R.R. Martin, talked about how this book series came to be a TV show at HBO, having to re-shoot 90% of the pilot, making sure that Martin gets his cameo this season, the biggest difficulties in shooting with different first units on different episodes in different countries on a daily basis, who the funniest actors on set are, whether the dire wolves are real or CG, the most technically difficult episode to shoot, whether getting to know the actors makes them feel guilty about killing characters off, the process for changing what is in the books, how there will be a few different people sitting on the Iron Throne before the series is done, and why Season 3 is the one they were most excited about doing.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

The highly anticipated third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones is nigh, and the network has released a tantalizing video blog to whet fans’ appetites.  This particular featurette focuses on the production’s work in Iceland, where the harsh climate doubles as the environment “beyond the wall.”  Executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff talk about what the bitter cold and snow bring to the series (beardcicles!), while actors Ciaran Hinds and Kit Harington speak to the beauty of the country.

Hit the jump to watch the video blog, and click here to check out 23 images from the new season.  Game of Thrones season three premieres on HBO on March 31st.

Although HBO’s third season of Game of Thrones won’t kick-off until March 31st, their regular video blogs have given fans some insight into the daily workings of the production. A new behind-the-scenes featurette is no different as it shows off a good deal of footage of both fan-favorite characters we’ve come to know and love so far, plus new additions to the cast.  The cast and crew also provide commentary on the production of the season and what they’re excited for viewers to see.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before we finally get a real trailer.  Hit the jump to watch the new featurette for season three of Game of Thrones. 

While we anxiously await the return of the third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the incredibly involved production process that’s necessary for bringing the George R.R. Martin bestselling series adaptation to life.  HBO has a new companion book available that features concept art and final production photos from the series so far.  To publicize this book, they’ve put together a concise video for it.  Be sure to get caught up on the new locations and cast members for the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, then hit the jump to check out the behind-the-scenes video.

As most of you know, I recently did an epic hour-long video interview with director Guillermo del Toro, and over the past two weeks I’ve been breaking it down into smaller segments. For today’s installment, del Toro talks about his rumored Dr. Strange movie with Neil Gaiman, how the 24/7 news cycle of the internet has changed the way projects get reported,  the length of time it really takes to get a movie made, how many projects he’s been developing have never leaked, his thoughts on what it will take to make a kick-ass video game adaptation and the inherent difficulty in transitioning to movie screens, and more.  In addition, for all you Halo fans, del Toro talks about the Halo movie he developed with D.B. Weiss, who is now very famous for HBO’s Game of Thrones.  Hit the jump for more.

Here are some Game of Thrones updates that don’t include George W. Bush’s head – HBO has released a list of the writers, directors and shooting locations for the show’s third season.

Sadly, Alan Taylor will be out of the mix for directing the upcoming season (which will be based on the first half of the third and potentially best book so far of the novel series, A Storm of Swords). Taylor, who directed some of the most memorable episodes of Thrones so far (including the final two episodes of the first season and a slew of great episodes this past season) will be busy shooting Thor 2 (bless him), which means that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will take the helm directing in his absence. For more on who is returning to Westeros next year, hit the jump.

Ah, the power of the internets.  Something that occurred way back during the first season of HBO’s smash hit series Game of Thrones has now come to the attention of the media, and thus a shitstorm is currently ongoing.  During the tenth episode of the first season of Game of Thrones, a prop severed head of former President George W. Bush is briefly seen on a stake.  The “Easter egg” was pointed out during a commentary by the producers on the season one DVD set released in February, but a hubbub was made just recently of said former president’s inclusion and HBO has reacted strongly.  Hit the jump for more.

HBO’s Game of Thrones comes at an interesting time in geekdom, and its success speaks to the barriers that have been broken. Though fantasy and science fiction have often been popular cinematically, on television it’s been stuck in a Stargate-esque ghetto. But now we’ve got one of the most thoughtful shows currently on air on one of the most prestigious networks that also happens to be about dragons and swordplay. Perhaps the better arbiter of what crosses over to the mainstream and what doesn’t is quality, and Game of Thrones is definitely an engrossing show even for those who’ve never picked up a twenty sided die. Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Mark Addy and Peter Dinklage lead a mostly British cast in a tale about warring families in a fantastical middle age. Our review of Game of Thrones on DVD follows after the jump.

The cast and crew of the second season of HBO’s Game of Thrones are inviting you to join them as they return to the set of Westeros. The cast talks about what it’s like to be back for season two, while the crew gives insight on how they’ve made the sophomore run bigger and better than the original. You can also check out the previous videos, posters and image galleries we’ve posted to get caught up.  Fans of the show who can’t wait until the April 1^st debut of the second season will want to hit the jump to check out the video. New converts should check out all of our previous coverage, watch the video and then head over to this handy show guide for the uninitiated. The second season of Game of Thrones, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s best-selling books debuts April 1^st on HBO. Hit the jump to check out the video.

HBO has premiered an in-production trailer for the second season of Game of Thrones.  The trailer provides a behind-the-scenes look at the filming on season two with co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talking about the storytelling challenges ahead.  For readers of the books, this will be a must-see trailer since it provides first looks at new characters.  I’m sure fans will debate whether or not the actor they’re seeing matches up with the person they envisioned.  If you’re like me and haven’t read the books, you’ll think “Hey!  Haven’t seen that person before!  I wonder what they’ll be up to.”  But what concerns me more than new characters is what Benioff and Weiss had to say about expanding the world and introducing new characters.  They took season one as a sign that an audience would accept such a large canvas.  However, Game of Thrones took around six episodes to really start cracking.  How long will it take for season two to heat up if we’re back to introductions?

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The new season of Game of Thrones premieres April 2012.

At the Game of Thrones panel at Comic-Con, author George R. R. Martin moderated select cast and crew (Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and creators David Benioff & D.B Weiss) as they discussed the forthcoming second season and beyond, special features on the first season’s bluray/dvd, what initially hooked them to the show and how they would end the book series – if they were Martin. For highlights from the panel, read beyond.

HBO has announced two extremely exciting panels that will appear at this year’s Comic-Con: Game of Thrones and True Blood. The cable channel’s new hit series Game of Thrones is making its first appearance at the convention. George R.R. Martin, who wrote the books off of which Thrones is based and serves as a producer/writer on the show, will be moderating the panel. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss will be joined by stars Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Jason Momoa and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will appear at the panel which is scheduled for Thursday, July 21^st, just days before season two begins production.

Additionally, Alan Ball’s True Blood is making its fourth consecutive appearance at the Con, with Ball and stars Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Kevin Alejandro, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello and Deborah Ann Woll scheduled to appear at the panel on Friday, July 22^nd. Hit the jump to read HBO’s full press release.