Sophie Turner in the Game of Thrones spinoff Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Game of Thrones’ premiere on April 17, 2011 was visually stunning and utterly captivating – and it wasn’t the original $10 million pilot made to transport you to the world of Westeros.

Actor-filmmaker Tom McCarthywho previously directed Dinklage in The Station Agent and went on to direct the 2016 Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight, was instrumental in GOT’s casting process and directed the first episode.

Which ironically felt a little too reserved. “There were concerns about whether we were getting enough long shots,” Lombardo told Hibberd. I notice the lack of epic scope and remember the quote: ‘We could have shot this in Burbank.'”

To Craig Mazin And John AugustOn the 2016 Scriptnotes podcast, Weiss called watching the reactions of the friends he gathered for the screening of the pilot “one of the most painful experiences of my life.”

Benioff noted that no one seemed to realize that lovestruck twins Jaime and Cersei Lannister were brother and sister – “a major, major plot point that we somehow couldn’t resolve.”

They paid tribute to the then-HBO co-president Richard Plepler with the ability to look beyond what exists to what could be. He ordered 10 episodes, including a new pilot, which began filming in July 2010.

After seeing the version that made it to HBO – directed by Tim Van Pattenwith McCarthy credited as consulting producer – at the series’ big premiere, Mazin recalled telling Weiss and Benioff afterwards, “‘This is the greatest rescue in the history of Hollywood.’

The Chernobyl author continued: “Because it wasn’t just that they had saved something bad and turned it into something really good. They had saved a complete piece of shit and turned it into something brilliant. That never happens!”

McCarthy didn’t go into detail, but noted to ABC News in 2016 that when they went back to “reshoot and re-edit the pilot,” he was already busy working on his 2011 film “Win Win” and didn’t want to leave. “And,” he said, “[GOT] was enormously successful without me.”