HBO has acquired the television production rights for "A Song of Ice and Fire."

HBO has obtained the TV production rights to George Martin's best-selling fantasy novel - "A Song of Ice and Fire" - with plans to make one season per book (a total of 7 books, with the first 5 already released), resulting in a total of 7 seasons. The entire series will be filmed in Europe and New Zealand. In the first season, Martin himself will write part of the screenplay, while the rest will be handled by David Benioff (author of: Troy) and D.B. Weiss (author of: Halo novels).

This TV series will begin with the novel "A Game of Thrones," which was released in 1996. Martin is almost finished writing the fifth book (A Dance with Dragons), but the seventh and final book is not expected to be completed until 2011.