George R R Martin Says Hollywood Executives Who Unnecessarily Change Source Material Are Morons

George R.R. Martin is familiar with Hollywood adaptions, as his immensely popular book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, was turned into the HBO program Game of Thrones. Of course, the series catapulted his fame to new heights as the fantasy show dominated ratings across its eight seasons. Unfortunately, the source material for the series ran out before the show came to a close, as Martin is still continuing to work on the sixth book, The Winds of Winter.

Martin recently sat down with the Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, and the pair discussed how their work had been adapted to the big and small screen. Variety captured their comments at New York City’s Symphony Space, where Martin said executives who make unnecessary changes to the source material are “morons.” The author says, “How faithful do you have to be? Some people don’t feel that they have to be faithful at all,” Martin explains. “There’s this phrase that goes around: ‘I’m going to make it my own.’ I hate that phrase. And I think Neil probably hates that phrase, too.” Gaiman would reiterate Martin’s statement, saying he spent 30 years watching people make Sandman their own, with awful interpretations.

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Martin continued, saying he understands that you have to make specific changes due to budget concerns or time restraints. “There are changes that you have to make — or that you’re called upon to make — that I think are legitimate,” he says. However, Martin says he disagrees with certain decisions, such as CBS making him add an “ordinary person” who “tags along” in an episode of The Twilight Zone to appeal to a “high concept.” He admits he was new to Hollywood, and “I didn’t say, ‘You’re f*****g morons.’” Now that Martin has plenty of experience in the industry, he may be more vocal about his adaptation requirements.

George R.R. Martin Speaks on One Big Game of Thrones Source Material Change

     HBO  

Game of Thrones was forced to change plenty of things for its television adaptation, as Martin’s book series is too expansive to capture while retaining audiences’ attention. However, the early seasons, which still followed the author’s published novels, maintained a high level of authenticity. One significant change was immediately noticeable from the first season, though, with the depiction of the Iron Throne.

The books describe the throne as over 15 feet tall, with thousands of swords making up the iconic chair. However, Game of Thrones would need to significantly change its depiction for the set, which Martin understands. “Why is the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones not the Iron Throne as described in the books? Why is it not 15 feet high and made of 10,000 swords? Because the ceiling in our soundstage was not 15 feet high,” Martin explains. We couldn’t fit it in there, and they weren’t willing to give us St. Paul’s Cathedral or Westminster Abbey to shoot our little show in."

The new spinoff, House of the Dragon, works to fix the Iron Throne look. An abundance of swords are spread across the throne room floor, an homage to the description in A Song of Ice and Fire. Luckily for Martin and HBO, the source material that House of the Dragon stems from is complete, meaning the crew has everything they need to perfect the author’s vision for seasons to come. For now, fans hope Hollywood continues to take a different approach with their adaptions, as the original story is usually superior to the altered version.