Season 5

Season 5 of Game of Thrones was formally commissioned by HBO on 8 April 2014, following a substantial increase in audience figures between the third and fourth seasons. The fifth and sixth seasons were commissioned simultaneously, the first time HBO has done so for a major drama series.

The season is expected to again consist of ten episodes and is expected to commence production in July 2014, running late into the year. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will return as executive producers and showrunners for both seasons, having signed a new two-year contract with HBO in early 2014.

The season is expected to premiere in April 2015.

Season 5 will consist of material from both the fourth and fifth novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. The two novels take place simultaneously alongside one another.

Plot
The show runners and executive producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have confirmed that Season 5 will feature a storyline in Dorne, focused on the aftermath of Prince Oberyn Martell's death and on his daughters, the Sand Snakes.

Production
Location scouting for Season 5 has taken place in Croatia and Spain. Filming in Croatia will continue in and around Dubrovnik, Split, and Žrnovnica, and will expand to new locations around Imotski and Šibenik. The Spanish locations being scouted are in Andalusia, namely the Alhambra of Granada, the Alcázar of Seville and the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos of Córdoba.

On July 2, 2014, U.S. ambassador to Spain James Costos confirmed at an economic forum meeting that Game of Thrones will be filming in the country. HBO later confirmed the same day that Seville was selected as the primary filming location, as well as other sites in the surrounding province of Seville. Further reports strongly indicate that the Alcázar of Seville will serve as the Water Gardens, the seaside palace of House Martell located just outside of Sunspear, the capital of Dorne. Alcázar is the oldest palace still in use in Europe, acting as a part-time residence for the present Spanish royal family. The site was first fortified in 712, and the Almohads expanded it in the twelfth century, making it a royal residence in 1248. Extensive additions were also made in subsequent centuries. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The Alcázar was previously used in Ridley Scott's 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven as the filming location for the court of the king of Jerusalem.

Locations have been scouted in Seville as well as the nearby town of Osuna. Fresco Film Productions has put out an open casting call via Facebook for extras in the area. Rosario Andújar, the mayor of Osuna, stated in El Mundo that several filming locations which have been scouted include the Plaza de Toros (a bull ring with sandstone walls, over a century old), the university (built in 1548, with four towers and influenced from the Italian Renaissance, La Colegiata (a church founded in 1535), and the Canteras de Osuna (the old quarries that supplied stone for the town).

On July 3rd it was reported that filming will briefly return to Iceland, but apparently will not feature any major characters, instead focusing on landscape shots. Line producer Snorri Þórisson confirmed that the show intended to film a battle in Iceland in the month of November, but that with rewrites, the scene grew too large (the scene may now be filmed somewhere else, filmed with a combination of greenscreen, or pushed to Season 6). It is difficult to film protracted battle scenes in Iceland during the fall due to the very limited daylight hours.

On July 13, it was confirmed that filming will begin in September in the town of Sibenik, Croatia. The location is most likely to represent parts of Braavos with St. James Cathedral rumored as the House of Black and White.

Adaptation

 * See main article on "Game of Thrones (TV series)"

Although the A Song of Ice and Fire novels were originally planned as a trilogy, to be titled A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons and The Winds of Winter, eventually George R.R. Martin realized his plot of "book one" would have to be expanded into three novels ​(A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords), which effectively means the first three books are one very long novel. In fact, the climax of A Storm of Swords concludes many of the plotlines begun in A Game of Thrones. Thus Tywin's death at the end of A Storm of Swords essentially marks the end of "Act One" of a three Act story.

Furthermore, what Martin originally planned as the middle novel (A Dance With Dragons​) grew so vast that it could not be published as a single novel, so he answered the dilemma by cutting the novel into two books that happen concurrently: the fourth one (A Feast For Crows) follows all of the characters in the Seven Kingdoms while the fifth one (A Dance With Dragons) covers the rest. The TV series will present these events in chronological order, "drawing heavily" from both books for Season 5.

While developing Season 4, Benioff said that "Season 5 gives him nightmares". Combining the fourth and fifth novels essentially recreates Martin's original middle novel, which would have been even longer than A Storm of Swords. Since this third novel was adapted into Seasons 3 and 4, it follows that the combined fourth and fifth novels would have to be adapted across two seasons as well. Yet, whereas the Red Wedding happens in the middle of the third novel and provided a convenient climax for Season 3, there is no similar event in the middle of A Feast for Crows or A Dance with Dragons, hence the adaptation difficulties. After Season 4 aired, however, Benioff and D.B. Weiss stated that once they actually had outlined Season 5 "the fear started to dissipate."

Returning starring cast

 * All starring cast members whose characters survive the events of Season 4 are expected to return for the fifth season. The following cast members are confirmed:


 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Regent Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish
 * Natalie Dormer as Lady Margaery Tyrell
 * Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth
 * Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark
 * Joe Dempsie as Gendry
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis
 * Tom Wlaschiha as TBA

Returning guest starring cast

 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lord Mace Tyrell
 * Anton Lesser as Qyburn
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon
 * Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant
 * Octavia Alexandru as Leaf

Being re-cast

 * Princess Myrcella Baratheon

Characters (reported) being cast

 * ​It should be noted that HBO still declines to confirm any casting news at this time, thus the following lists are only reported, not confirmed:


 * Prince Doran Martell
 * Prince Trystane Martell
 * Areo Hotah
 * Obara Sand
 * Nymeria Sand
 * Tyene Sand
 * The High Sparrow
 * Septa Unella
 * Maggy the Frog
 * Lollys Stokeworth
 * Yezzan zo Qaggaz
 * The Waif
 * Varamyr Sixskins
 * Imogen - suspected to be Young Cersei, in flashback scenes with Maggy the Frog.
 * Brunette girl

Crew
In May 2014, David Nutter stated that he will be directing episodes 9 and 10 of Season 5. On July 2, 2014, it was announced that director and cinematographer Michael Slovis will be directing two episodes in Season 5, the season premiere and the second episode. Slovis previously previously directed Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's 2008 TV series New Amsterdam. On July 15, 2014, the full directors lineup was announced, indicating Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa and Miguel Sapochnik will direct two consecutive episodes each; the third and fourth, the fifth and sixth, and the seventh and eighth respectively.

Thus, regular directors Neil Marshall, Alex Graves, Alik Sakharov and Michelle MacLaren will not be returning for Season 5.

Producers

 * David Benioff: executive producer
 * D.B. Weiss: executive producer

Writers

 * David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
 * George R.R. Martin: 1 episode​
 * Bryan Cogman: 2 episodes
 * Dave Hill

Directors

 * Michael Slovis: episodes 1 and 2
 * Mark Mylod: episodes 3 and 4
 * Jeremy Podeswa: episodes 5 and 6
 * Miguel Sapochnik: episodes 7 and 8
 * David Nutter: episodes 9 and 10