Game of Thrones is about to get so much bigger: According to multiple sources, because of the series' popularity (it just beat The Sopranos for HBOs most popular show) it may end up getting a theatrical release. That's right — you could get to see Game of Thrones at the movie theater. I'll let you take a moment to imagine watching that drama unfold ON THE BIG SCREEN.
The details? No, GoT isn't getting a movie spinoff — the show is still very much that, a show. However, Cinemark CEO Tim Warner does think finales of popular shows, like GoT, should be broadcasted at the theater because that would be the most epic viewing party ever.
“Game of Thrones on the big screen would be so exciting," he says. "It’s not that you can’t go to the bar and watch this stuff, but you can’t have that premium experience.”
What would that "premium experience" look like? Well American theaters can model it after Canada who is already set to screen the GoT finale at theaters later this month. According to The Telegram, "Admission is $10, which includes a concession voucher for the same value, plus entry into a draw for Game of Thrones prizes." Warner is very pumped about this idea, lamenting that GoT built up "this huge fan base and there’s nowhere for the fan base to go."
As someone who's been to midnight releases of various books and movies — namely Harry Potter — I can vouch for how much fun having a fandom collect at an event can be. Waiting for the movie to start or the book to come out is half the fun because, while waiting, you get to be around people who love what you love.
The one thing that could possibly stand in the way of the finale coming to American screens, according to Huffington Post, is that "media conglomerates just don't mix their cinema and broadcast divisions." But Warner says it's time for that to change. “They’re going to have break down that barrier within the studios, so that all the content providers take a look at whatever content they’re doing and say, ‘Should this be going into this platform?’"
And if the logical reasoning fails, you can always point back to money. Media conglomerates need/love money. As Warner says, “They’ve got to think of the theatrical platform as the largest pay-per-view platform in the world."
Hopefully the money argument can help with the case, because the thought of watching Game of Thrones on a huge theater screen instead of a tiny TV screen would undoubtedly make the experience so much better than any of us ever thought possible. DRAGONS ON THE BIG SCREEN.
Image: HBO
