Filming for the fifth season of the blockbuster fantasy drama TV series "Games of Thrones" has taken Spain by a storm. But in a positive economic way.
Apparently, when a casting call was made by the HBO's fantasy hit series in Spain for some 600 extras for a battle scene, an overwhelming 86,000 Spaniards applied for the job, reports Entertainment Weekly.
As a matter of fact, Fresco Film, the local production outfit tapped by HBO for the filming in Spain of the series, had to increase server space just to accommodate the deluge of applicants.
Entertainment Weekly observed that many of the applicants were jobless but one hired extra disclosed that he took time off from his high-paying banking job just to become part of the show.
The response of Spanish fans on the TV series speaks a lot about the continuously growing fan base of HBO's most popular TV series ever on a global scale, notes the report.
TV ratings for "Games of Thrones" through four seasons have always charted an upward trajectory. The fourth season even hit a remarkable 19 million viewership in the US across all platforms, points out Entertainment Weekly.
"Games of Thrones" is being shot in the historic town of Osuna located in the province of Seville in southern Spain. It will start airing with 10 episodes in 2015.
"The arrival of the blockbusting TV show has had a positive impact for an area where the unemployment rate is 34.7%, the highest among the country's 17 autonomous regions," reports The Telegraph.
Extras will be paid £40 per day to wear medieval costumes in a crowd scene at Osuna's bull ring, which "Games of Thrones" will use to film a battle scene, The Telegraph added.
Employment on the "Games of Thrones" set is projected to generate millions for southern Spain's local economy, which is currently on the rebound from a recession.
Spoilers
Following the recent release of pictures showing the new characters for "Games of Thrones," HBO seems to be giving out a prelude, if not outright spoilers, to the series' fifth season, notes the International Business Times.
The Sand Snakes, a group of women who are all illegitimate daughter of Prince Oberyn Martell, will make their appearance on Season 5. The appearance of Prince Oberyn's daughters is a result of Gregor Clegane's brutal murder of their father, details the IB Times.
The Australian edition of the International Business Times also reported of an important boat scene for Season 5, which was shot at a landlocked lake with matching four-feet-tall waves.
The same report also said that the previously reported plot on Iron Islands has already been shelved.