After purchasing the film and television adaptation rights of "Game of Thrones" from Ye Zhiqiu, HBO TV station attached great importance to it and positioned it as an "S-level" project internally.

According to the outline given by Ye Zhiqiu, the story's plot, characters, and story lines are complex. The landmark buildings in the story, such as the castle, the Great Wall, and Lindong City, are all magnificent in scale. Considering cost-effectiveness and other aspects, it is impossible to complete them all in one go.

After all, no matter how excellent a work is, it still needs to be tested and reviewed by the market.

Even so, in order to achieve exquisite effects in the production of the first season of "Game of Thrones", HBO TV station increased its budget again and again, and finally reached 600 million US dollars per episode.

The total production cost is more than 6000 million US dollars, which is not even lower than many movies. For this reason, HBO is somewhat nervous and under considerable pressure.

......

In a family in Texas.

"I am back!"

19-year-old Max returned home after a day of farm work, took out a bottle of cold beer from the refrigerator, bit off the bottle cap with his teeth and spit it out, then fell heavily on the sofa and gulped down half a bottle of golden liquid.

"Hey! Max, you should at least finish dinner before picking up that bottle of wine!" A middle-aged white woman in the kitchen poked her head out to take a look and shouted.

"Sorry, Mom!" Max raised the bottle in his hand and shouted, "Just one bottle. It's really hot today. I need something cool to drink."

The middle-aged white woman's head retreated into the kitchen, and the voice of muttering continued, "I know, I should have let you choose to go to college, and then find a job sitting in an office, just like those Wall Street elites on TV."

"Your father has worked on the farm for half his life. What will you gain by continuing to work there..."

Max smiled nonchalantly and replied loudly: "Mom, I feel fine now!"

In the cattle-raising state of Texas, Max's family runs a small farm. Although they have no worries about food and clothing, it is still difficult for them to afford the average annual tuition of $3.

Of course, Max could also choose a student loan, but the high interest rates are a heavier burden, and it is common for the interest to be higher than the principal. Once you take out a student loan, it almost means that you will have to live with it for the rest of your life.

Max, who has been dealing with ranches and horses since he was a child, feels that he is more suited to this kind of free lifestyle.

Taking another sip of beer, Max picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and browsed the contents of various TV stations aimlessly.

Suddenly, when he was watching a certain channel, he was attracted by a video that looked like an advertisement.

The video begins with a bird's-eye view of low-rise houses with red tiled roofs in the medieval style, densely packed and arranged in disorder.

The next moment, a black shadow with huge wings on its back swept across the sky, blocking out the sun, accompanied by a hoarse roar of a beast. The scene changed, and it turned out to be a giant dragon covered with scales!

“Holly Shit!”

The moment the dragon appeared, Max's eyes widened and he couldn't help but shout out.

The giant dragon on the screen just now was too real. Although it was just a glimpse, the ferocious, cool and wild appearance immediately attracted his attention. Unfortunately, the picture only lasted for less than a second before it changed again.

Even so, this brought a great shock to Max and aroused his interest in continuing to watch.

In the picture, nobles wearing medieval palace costumes, soldiers with large shields and spears, cavalrymen wearing heavy black armor... various characters appear one after another.

In the background, a deep male voice appeared.

What unites people? Armies? Gold? Flags? Stories?

The constantly changing images, every scene is filled with a sense of mystery and tension in terms of character modeling, art, and visual appeal.

Then, the dragon appeared again, and this time the camera stayed on it a little longer, for a full two seconds.

Max sat up straight at once, and couldn't help but lean forward, staring at the TV screen.

Then, he discovered that this dragon was different from the one that appeared at the beginning!

It is larger in size, with a more ferocious dragon head, and its wings spread out like a shield covering the sky...

"Shit!" Seeing this, Max couldn't help but swear again.

So cool! Max's first thought was, is this some kind of game CG or trailer?

He had seen promotional videos of similar styles in other games before, but in terms of the shape, scenery, and level of production, they were several levels inferior to the one in front of him.

If so, I must play this game! Max has made up his mind.

In the background, the deep male voice's narration continued.

[You are in a big game, and it’s a brutal game.]

【Power is a strange thing. It is a trick, like a shadow floating on a wall.】

【Power exists if you believe in it, and it is gone if you don’t believe in it...】

Here, a voice of a character in the plot is inserted.

[I will not wear a crown, nor seek honor. I am a sword in the darkness, a guard on the Great Wall...]

After the sound of a sword being unsheathed, the deep male voice narration appeared again amid the magnificent music.

【Do you know the truth about the kingdom? 】

War scenes flashed across the screen. In the living room, Max's blood boiled as he watched them, but at the same time, a hint of doubt arose in his heart.

This picture doesn't look like a game CG? Instead... it looks more like a trailer for a movie or TV series?

Finally, his idea was verified.

At the end of the video, three huge English letters "HBO" appeared, followed by a compact introductory voice.

"The most compact, exciting, thrilling and addictive epic series - Game of Thrones, is on HBO TV. See you every Sunday night at 4:22 starting from April 21!"

Seeing this, Max waved his fist excitedly.

This is actually a trailer for a TV series. Just looking at the scene just now, even many movies can’t achieve that!

"Game of Thrones", these words were deeply imprinted in his mind, arousing great curiosity, and he couldn't wait for Sunday to come.

"Oh Shit!" Suddenly, Max realized a problem.

HBO TV is not free, but a famous paid channel that requires a subscription to watch, which costs nearly $20 per month.

But at this time he was completely attracted by the show, and he clicked on the purchase page without hesitation and chose to pay...

At the same time, the same situation as Max's occurred in many places across the United States.

As soon as the trailer for "Game of Thrones" was released, it quickly became popular on the Internet.