Here's what we saw (and learned) at the 'Game of Thrones' season 6 premiere
LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood Boulevard turned into Westeros on Sunday evening as Game of Thrones cast members took a break from fighting for the Iron Throne to celebrate the season six premiere.
Hundreds of fans lined up outside the TCL Chinese Theatre to catch glimpses of the star-studded cast -- including including Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) -- as they walked the "grey" carpet.
This season of the show, which is David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' adaptation of author George R.R. Martin's series, has been clouded by much secrecy because it now goes beyond many of the storylines from Martin's novels.
You May Also Like
In fact, the extravagant HBO premiere was the first time most people were able to see the new episode. The network didn't provide press with screeners, and even many cast members said they hadn't seen the first episode.
In front of the theater, attendees were greeted with banners from numerous houses of Westeros (the Starks, Targaryens, Lannisters, etc) as well as a giant Three-Eyed Raven, which Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) was last seen pursuing in seasons one through four.
Following the screening -- which had so many attendees that it was shown in two different theaters -- lucky VIPs were ushered across the street to an afterparty at a packed Hollywood Roosevelt hotel.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
There, they were greeted by a handful of GOT-themed activities including a Hall of Faces photo booth, fortunetellers deemed Three-Eyed Raven Soothsayers and henna tattoos.
Without spoiling anything, here are some things we learned about season 6 at the premiere:
Season 6 was "a beast" to make
Showrunners Benioff and Weiss told attendees ahead of the screening that season 6 was shot in 680 hours dailies, which translates to a whopping 3.7 million feet of film.
The cast and crew also shot in five different countries: Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia, Iceland and Canada.
"We shot two units a day for 22 weeks straight, three units a day for 10 weeks straight, four units for two weeks straight," Benioff added. "And none of that would be possible without the greatest producing team on the planet.”
There were a lot of revisions to scripts for this season
140, to be exact.
Even Cersei Lannister hates spoilers
In a brief message before the screening, Cersei (played by Lena Headey) urged attendees not to reveal any information from the first episode of season 6. Violators will be “boiled alive," she said.
That's why Mashable is barely revealing any information: To avoid the wrath of House Lannister.
We know nothing, Jon Stewart?
Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow in the series, was nowhere to be seen at the premiere.
However, Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming, did address that fan question -- yes, the one about whether Jon Snow will be coming back -- ahead of the screening.
"The answer is yes ... Jon Stewart will be coming to HBO, he's alive and well," Lombardo joked. "Don't worry."
Too late: We're always worried when it comes to GOT.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO on April 24.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics Game Of Thrones HBO
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
