"Game of Thrones' has further upped its game by coming up with a special promo that has heightened the excitement of fans for season five. In a report by Entertainment Weekly, advance IMAX ticket sales have been rumored to be considerably strong for the screening event that shows two "Thrones' episodes together with the trailer for the forthcoming fifth season.
Despite box office details not being available yet, 200 theaters have reportedly booked and sold out screenings, specifically among larger cities.
Following the announcement of the IMAX theatrical release, IMAX insiders indicated a possibility of weak performance for Game of Thrones. In contrast, with fans' excitement mounting high, sources claimed that the screening will eventually surpass the typical $4,000-$5,000 haul per weekend.
According to IMAX Entertainment CEO Greg Foster, Game of Thrones was booked as the first ever TV show to be translated and showcased in such a format in order to boost the weekend's haul during a "very slow time of the year" for the box office.
Foster further stated that he has a natural feeling that "Game of Thrones', which is based on George R.R. Martin's bestselling novel, will deliver an exceptional performance.
"We announced this and our website crashed," Foster said. "As soon as that happened, my instinct didn't matter; [the interest] became empirical. Then a week later, we announced we were moving the date to accommodate more theaters, and the website crashed again"”twice. So that was a pretty good indication."
In addition, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo explained that he decided to initiate the deal to generate anticipation for the series' fifth season, which will debut on April 12, as opposed to merely focusing on sales and revenues.
"If we were premiering the first episode of the new season in IMAX, I wouldn't have been surprised," Lombardo noted. "But that's not what we're doing. It's very heartening and surprising that people are willing to pay money and drive somewhere to re-experience a show they've already seen and now want to see again on a big screen with friends and family."
The " Game of Thrones' screening will include two episodes from the previous season, specifically the highly praised "The Watchers on the Wall' and the season finale "The Children', which bagged an Emmy nomination.
According to Foster, converting the fantasy drama series into an extra-large screen format has given the already brilliant show an additional jolt.
"I know everybody calls "Thrones' a television show, but it looks like a movie," Foster said. "It's unbelievably cinematic. It blew us away."
