20th March 2012

Toronto Embraces Game of Thrones Exhibition

hbo canadaHBO Canada, a multiplex channel of Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada), along with TIFF, would like to thank the thousands of people who attended Game of Thrones: The Exhibition for making this free, 10-day celebration of HBO’s hit series such a huge success.

“HBO Canada audiences are entertainment junkies so we suspected that there would be a lot of interest but the non-stop crowds, lineups and buzz exceeded even our wildest expectations,” said Peter Furnish, Vice President, Marketing, Astral Television Networks. “On behalf of HBO Canada, thank you to the Game of Thrones fans – and soon-to-be fans – for coming out in droves to engage with this amazing show.”

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Running from March 9 – 18, located in the expansive main-floor HSBC Gallery at TIFF Bell Lightbox, and designed and staged by TIFF’s world-class exhibitions team, Game of Thrones: The Exhibition showcased a wealth of material from HBO’s global production, including costumes, props, weaponry, photography and behind-the-scenes video. In total, nearly 17,000 people claimed free tickets either in advance or by waiting in RUSH lines, representing a fully sold-out event. This figure represents the highest number of people to go through the HSBC Gallery over a 10-day period, making it the most successful event of its kind to date at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

The anchor to the exhibition was the infamous Iron Throne itself. Located in the RBC Lobby at TIFF Bell Lightbox, more than 25,000 fans had the chance to be King or Queen for a day and were photographed with the Throne.

Capping the excitement were celebrity appearances by series star Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark), who surprised fans with an impromptu autograph signing and photo opp at the public opening on March 9, and by Westeros creator George R.R. Martin himself, who toured the exhibit and thrilled a Iron Throne from HBO's Game of Thrones will be in Vancouver March 23 (Photo Courtesy HBO Canada)sold-out crowd at the In Conversation With . . . event on March 12 and even read from the in-progress sixth novel in the best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series. Video of this event, hosted by The Movie Network’s Teri Hart and in partnership with Random House of Canada and TIFF, is available now at hbocanada.com, randomhouse.ca and tiff.net.

The Iron Throne now travels to Vancouver on Friday (March 23), where fans will have the opportunity to have their photo taken on the Throne and see all 10 episodes from the first season in a free marathon screening starting at 8 a.m. PT at VIFF’s Vancity Theatre.

HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones kicks off its 10-episode second season premiere on Sunday, April 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET/MT. Based on the popular book series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, this Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom. Among the returning members of the ensemble cast are Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey and Kit Harington. The series is Executive Produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 at 10:14 am and is filed under Events, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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