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George R.R. Martin Wants ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ to Have the Best On-Screen Jousting in Over 70 Years

George R.R. Martin is usually known lately, aside from writing some very beloved books and being continually asked to keep writing more of them, for being a bit grumpy. He’s grumpy that people keep asking him about that book. He’s grumpy at some of the choices adaptations of his books make. He’s annoyed about people’s faux concerns for his health, as long as it comes to writing that book. But one thing has become abashedly clear as we get closer to another one of those adaptations of his books: George R.R. Martin just really, really loves his Dunk & Egg novellas.

And jousting, apparently. That’s specifically quite important.

So important that recently at New York Comic Con (via Winter Is Coming), the author revealed the very specific challenge he made to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker as part of getting the series—an adaptation of the first of the Dunk & Egg stories, The Hedge Knight—made. It wasn’t about maintaining accuracy to his work, or anything like that.

It was simple: beat the 1952 classic Ivanhoe. While the iconic historical adventure is largely about the titular Wilfred of Ivanhoe attempting to restore Richard the Lionheart to the throne of England, part of the film is centered around a major jousting tournament, meant to rally England around the incumbent ruler, the nefarious Prince John.

“I set [the production team] a challenge, which I think Ira and his people have delivered. I said, ‘Let’s do the best jousting sequences that have been ever put on film,’†Martin told audiences. “A modest little challenge for Ira and his crew.â€

“I think my favorite previous was 1952’s Ivanhoe,†Martin added. “They don’t have much jousting sequences, but what they have are really good. So that’s the standard. You guys will judge how we did. but I think we did really well.â€

It’s perhaps no surprise that Martin is a little old-timey-tourney obsessed: they’ve long been elements of his fantasy writing, including Hedge Knight, which the writer specifically built around the events of a tournament to make the event a central part of one of his stories in Westeros for once, instead of just for additional flavor. “I’ve always loved medieval tournaments in other pictures, and of course, we had several tournaments in Game of Thrones,†Martin explained. “But they were in the background, they were not the center. But I said… ‘I want to do something that’s entirely set during a tournament,’ because I found tournaments were very exciting.â€

Will the fully armed and operational might of the HBO machine creating more Game of Thrones content be able to beat a 73-year-old movie in a very specific way? We’ll find out early next year, when A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms hits HBO and HBO Max January 18.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Original Source: https://gizmodo.com/george-r-r-martin-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-jousting-2000674955

Original Source: https://gizmodo.com/george-r-r-martin-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-jousting-2000674955

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