Putting a two-episode taste of HBO’s epic “Game of Thrones” series on IMAX screens has only served to make the argument for weekly theatrical release of each upcoming episode of author George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy juggernaut. The Season 5 trailer that aired following Thursday night’s Los Angeles IMAX screening of Season 4 episodes “The Watchers on the Wall” and “The Children,” drove the point home.
“It’s the first television show to be shown in the IMAX format,” series star Sophie Turner, who plays gentle Sansa Stark, said in introducing the 10 p.m. PT screening at Universal Citywalk, along with series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
“The brilliant folks at IMAX and the award-winning ‘Game of Thrones’ post-production team have worked very hard to present you with an experience that will shatter your eardrums, melt your faces off and,” Turner stopped as she read from a prepared script, then turned to Benioff and Weiss for direction, ” — I’m not saying that. No, I don’t care if it’s on the page — it sounds vile.”
See Turner’s introduction of the event here:
Their brief comedy routine complete, all three then sat down with the giddy audience to enjoy the show.
Fans of the series may think it impossible, but the view from top of the Wall seems higher, the giants more terrifying and the scenery even more breathtaking in the IMAX format.
HBO did viewers the great favor of showing “Previously” IMAX-sized preroll that included some greatest hits, including Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha); the Hound (Rory McCann) and Arya (Maisie Williams) laughing at the gates of the Vale; Mance Rayder (Ciarán Hinds) proclaiming that he’s “going to light the biggest fire the North has ever seen”; and even the eye-popping fight between the Mountain Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) and the Viper Oberon Martell Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal).
Following leaks, HBO released the Season 5 trailer on Facebook: