Game of Thrones just announced more casting news for its upcoming prequel, including who will direct the show’s highly anticipated pilot. After months of speculation, HBO confirmed that SJ Clarkson will be helming the prequel’s pilot episode, which has yet to be titled.

Clarkson has an impressive television resume and is known for her work on Orange Is the New Black, Bates Motel, Jessica Jones and Dexter. She is also directing the next Star Trek movie. Jane Goldman will be working with Clarkson as the prequel’s showrunner.

When it comes to casting, we already know that Naomi Watts will play the lead character, who is described as “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.” But she isn’t the only female lead this time around. According to Entertainment Weekly, Naomi Ackie is joining the cast as one of the lead characters. The actress appeared in Lady Macbeth and is set to play a role in Star Wars: Episode IX.

Denise Gough, a critically acclaimed stage actress from Ireland, has also been tapped for an unspecified role. Other actors and actresses joining the cast include Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Black Mirror), Georgie Henley (Narnia), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls), Toby Regbo (Reign), and Josh Whitehouse. Apart from the cast, we do not know a lot about the prequel’s plot, other than it is set thousands of years before the original show. The prequel still does not have an official title, though Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin allegedly wants to call it The Long Night. Martin has also assured fans that the prequel will be different from Game of Thrones, mainly because everything we are familiar with does not exist.

“Westeros is a very different place,” Martin teased. “There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens…We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.” The casting announcement comes amid preparation for the final season of Game of Thrones, which is scheduled to return this April. During the NFL playoffs this past weekend HBO dropped a teaser for every show coming up for the network in 2019, which featured the first actual footage of Season 8.

In the clip, Sansa Stark is seen greeting Daenerys and Jon Snow at Winterfell, while her greeting seems warm – “Winterfell is yours my grace” – true fans know this truce may not last. HBO has not revealed an official timetable for the Game of Thrones prequel, which will begin production after the original series is over.

Source:www.pulse.ng