Westeros

Update: HBO informs us that key production personnel know nothing of Fortuna’s involvement in the series. Does this mean he’s not part of the production whatsoever? Not necessarily, as it’s quite possible that extras or featured extras are something that higher level production members don’t necessarily keep track of. But even if he’s a featured extra, it’s not much to get excited about.

Following the recent news that Michiel Husman has stepped into the role of Daario Naharis, a character introduced last season and then played by Ed Skrein, word has come out that another role—a somewhat less prominent one—has been recast: Gregor Clegane, the Mountain that Rides, will now be played by Hafþór Björnsson, an Icelandic strong man and past contender for the title of World’s Strongest Man. At 6’9” and 440 lbs., the athlete will certainly look the part. The role of the Mountain has been played by two previous actors, with Conan Stevens originating the role and Ian Whyte filling Gregor’s giant shoes for the 2nd season.

It’s also been revealed by Indewire blog Shadow and Act, that Angolan actor Hoji Fortuna—whose English-language credits are fairly brief, but he has appeared in a number of Portuguese films, as well as more recently in the since-cancelled TV series Pan Am—has been cast in an unnamed role. Given that filming is currently taking place in Croatia, it seems quite clear he’ll be appearing there (a notion further given weight by the actor’s own tweets hinting he was going to that country). One might speculate as to his role, but one obvious possibility is the role of Brown Ben Plumm, a sellsword captain. In the novels, Plumm became the captain of the Second Sons following its joining Daenerys; on the TV show, the Second Sons and another company, the Stormcrows, were combined, so this may not quite work… but they could easily have Plumm be captain of a second company, or perhaps make him Daario Naharis’s new second in the command.

Last season, fans of Game of Thrones were introduced to the cocky, dangerous sellsword Daario Naharis, played by Ed Skrein. Now word is out that the role has been recast—no reasons stated, but they can be quite mundane—and stepping into the role is another HBO alumni accorrding to the Hollywood Reporter. Daario will now be played by Michiel Huisman, a Dutch actor and musician who’s been featured in HBO’s Treme (aside: a show I very highly recommend!).

For a taste of the actor’s work, below you’ll find a brief clip from the BBC’s Rudolf and Margot, where Huisman plays famed Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev:

We’re very happy to report that the Shire Post‘s effort to create real gold dragon coins, using Kickstarter to raise the seed funding to acquire the necessary gold, is now a reality! Today, the Kickstarter crossed its $10,000 goal. Many congratulations to Tom at Shire Post, and to those who’ve contributed towards making this happen.

Last year, George R.R. Martin and Subterranean Press revealed that the new, limited edition of A Clash of Kings was to feature the art of noted artist Richard Hescox. With this year’s Worldcon approaching, Hescox has noted that he’ll be in attendance and will be displaying some of his artwork for the limited edition at the convention…

... but he’s shared a sample of that work, over at his gallery page for the book. The gallery features over a dozen artworks, both in color and black and white, out of the total of sixteen paintings and over sixty black-and-white illustrations that he’s provided for the book.

Pre-orders for the book began in July, with exclusive rights to pre-order to those who’ve purchased A Dance with Dragons previously. As noted by Subterranean, this limited edition release actually precedes the planned A Game of Thrones limited edition, as the artwork for that one has not yet been completed. Pre-orders on remaining, unclaimed volumes of A Clash of Kings will take place in October.

HBO’s official Youtube channel for Game of Thrones has just released the deleted scene previously shown at Comic-Con, indicating that it will be part of the season 3 Bluray set (Pre-order: US Bluray, US Bluray Amazon Exclusive, UK Bluray, UK DVD)

The scene features Lord Tywin and Grand Maester Pycelle discussing recent news… and Pycelle’s choice to hide behind feigned infirmity. You can see it below:

Season 3 of Game of Thrones won’t be released on Bluray and DVD until next year, per usual HBO practice, but that doesn’t mean that HBO isn’t interested in whetting the appetite of fans of the show. The latest volley? Amazon.com has revealed its exclusive Bluray set. Not only does it also include the full Bluray set, as well as (barebones) DVDs, but it features a pretty remarkable, sculpted packaging that you can see here:

HBO sends the following information, describing the sculpted package:

The limited packaging of course comes at a premium… but you can always order the regular Bluray and DVD sets at the more usual price (Pre-order: US Bluray, UK Bluray, UK DVD), if that’s more your speed. That packaging does look rather stunning, though, so it should be very tempting to quite a few fans.

Tom Maringer of the Shire Post Mint, official licensed producers of replica coins based on those described in A Song of Ice and Fire, has been on a roll lately with the coins he’s been making and selling… and he’s now reveal a plan that he’s long been dreaming of: replica gold dragons using genuine 22k gold. But it’s a very costly endeavor, acquiring the gold to produce the coins, so he’s reached out via c to get the initial seed funding to realize the dream.

Via the project, Tom shares:

Support levels for the project range from a thank you from Tom and co., to copies of the brass versions of the dragons (as well as the very popular Faceless Man coin), all the way up to the top level including the three new coins both in brass and gold. The Kickstarter project page has many, many images of the coins to admire. Tom’s shared some great videos and background information in his project updates, so make sure to check them out!

The 2014 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar, illustrated by the incomparable Gary Gianni, was released last month (Order: Amazon US, Amazon UK) to great acclaim… and already, another fantastic artist is hard at work at next year’s calendar.

This time, it’s Donato Giancola, who’s just as legendary an artist as Gianni, Nasmith, and all the other remarkable artists that have tried their hand at depicting George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire setting and world. Giancola has posted an early sketch (note: technically NSFW) for one of the paintings, with some commentary. He seems to find the novels a great source of inspiration, as he laments there being only twelve months in a year.