EXCLUSIVE: Leading Game of Thrones actor and Emmy winner Peter Dinklage will not return to HBO’s flagship program for a fourth season in 2014. In a press conference the morning of April 1st, 2013 show creators David Benioff, Dan Weiss alongside George R.R. Martin made the announcement to stunned members of the media.
“Today is both a sad day and an exciting one for HBO’s Game of Thrones,” Benioff began. “Sad because we’ve all gotten to know Peter on set and love him dearly as a friend. We’ll miss him sorely. Exciting because we’re heading in an entirely new direction with the character of Tyrion Lannister for season 4.”
Members of the press began to stir and murmur in anticipation of what the show creators, who had seemed so stable and reliable up until this moment, had to say next. Producer Dan Weiss continued the explanation adding, “It was a unanimous decision between David, myself, Peter and George. We want to take Tyrion in a more comedic, farcical direction and everyone including Peter agreed that he just wasn’t the man for the job. I’ll let the other guys speak for themselves but for me the choice was as clear as a crystal crown. Warwick Davis will be our new Tyrion Lannister!”
Just then Warwick Davis, a British comedian best known for his roles in Star Wars, Harry Potter and the HBO comedy Life’s Too Short, stepped into the room to flashing cameras and even more commotion from members of the press. Warwick then took a seat next to Martin.
When asked whether he approved of this decision, George R.R Martin responded enthusiastically:
“Warwick was actually my pick back in 2009 when we first began looking at potential cast members. It finally hit me last week while taking an indefinite break from writing The Winds of Winter to catch up on some of my favorite movies. I think it was his epic role in Willow that finally convinced me. Such wit. Such… tenderness.”
Warwick has reportedly asked for 1 million dollars per episode, amounting to nearly 20 percent of the show’s 50 million dollar per season budget. “We felt that Warwick’s experience and star power was well worth the investment,” Weiss said. “We’ll be seeing a lot less of the dragons and direwovlves due to the new budgeting that will have to be done to compensate. But in the end it’s a small price to pay for this kind of acting gravitas.”
The producers also noted that, in an effort to maintain continuity, Warwick Davis’ face will be digitally transposed over Mr. Dinklage’s in all future releases of Game of Thrones on DVD and Blu-Ray.
At this point many members of the media began to shout out pertinent questions such as “How does Peter feel about all this?” and “Are you fuc@!n6 serious right now?” but the Game of Thrones show-runners were already on their way out the door, waving and patting each other on the back as they went.
Peter Dinklage himself could not be reached for comment in a recent interview the actor expressed feeling anxious about devoting so much time to a single project:
“I’ll tell you true.. Game of Thrones has been a wonderful experience all around, certainly. But I do wonder if I’m not limiting myself in some ways. I recently had to turn down a part playing Kelly’s newest love interest on The Big Bang Theory. I love that show! It killed me to have to turn it down.”
This reporter, for one, stands in shock and awe at the decision handed down this, the first day of April. Today was supposed to be a great day for Game of Thrones fans with season 3 kicking off last night and an almost assured announcement regarding a fourth season. I suppose we should all just take a deep breath and trust in the wisdom of the producers and creators that brought us this wonderful show in the first place.
We’ll update this piece when we know more about the fate of Tyrion Lannister.
Goodbye, Peter.
UPDATE: April Fools!
I know, I know this was one of the cruelest jokes anyone could have played on the first of April.. and just hours after the season 3 premiere! Everyone would be devastated if something happened to Peter and his relationship with Tyrion Lannister. To be fair we did give you some hints along the way (give it a re-read if you were fooled!). Though we understand that many of you couldn’t get past the headline without tears of rage/sadness filling your eyes leaving you unable to read and/or think straight.
We apologize for any hurt feelings, friends lost or keyboards/monitors smashed as the result of our little April fools gag. We know most of you took it in stride. Rest assured that Game of Thrones will premiere next year airing around the same time as last year’s start and you’ll be watching it online with HBO GO as easily as ever. You can even stream Game of Thrones for free online with HBO Now, these days.
We felt like trolls all day but we hope the majority of our readers had a good little laugh. We promise we won’t ever do this again… on our honor as Lannisters. Until next year…
1,182 comments
You a… Ok. I see how it is! Just for that, I’m joining Joffrey’s side.
lol cruel prank! what is the game of thrones without dear Peter as Tyrion!!?? got me good :D
wow — i was feeling pretty devastated about losing peter as tyrion (ie. what the original joke intended) & then i get to read 20-odd ridiculous comments about the big bang theory. really??? who cares about the big bang theory? either you like it or you don’t — period. jeez.
next thing you will tell us is that your dad is not going to give you Casterly rock
well played, well played.
actually. fuck warwick davis. fuck.
fuckfuckfuckfuck.
NOOO PETER DINKLAGE
Well played HBO..Well played.
Warrick should not be Tyrion at all and the fact that they are making him for “comedic” is wrong and totally strays from the book. I think Peter Dinklage is the only one to play Tyrion Lanister
finish the article…
boooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
…Seriously, fuck, Peter was my favorite actor on the whole damn show. I haven’t read past book 3, but Tyrion always seemed rather dour, and I think Peter nailed it perfectly. WHY DO YOU DO THESE CHANGES HBO? WHYYY? POR QUA?
No wait…I’m an idiot….derp, WELL PLAYED, HBO, WELL PLAYED.
Itsno longer April 1st here in Australia!!!!! Please stop this crap!!!! THsi is the third time ive been done and not one of them was on april 1st
Bah…blah….BigBag , What about the joke! I would miss Peter Dinklage. He is such a wonderful actor. The looks and sllght facal adjustments give you insight into his feelings and just what he feels and as the insults fly he is so smooth the way they lay there. BRAVO Peter Dinklage
Maybe he’s shooting Tiptoes 2
Hope this is an April fools or the producers are fools.
If ONLY I would read the whole article!
First enough with TBBT this is not what this article is about……
But thank God I decided to read this because for just a minute there I thought this was real…LOL I would have definitely stopped watching Game of Thrones if it were true.
BOOO. warwick doesnt fit the bill. peter dinklage is GOT
>.< trollololed
I knew it was a joke when they said they wanted to take the character into a more comedic direction, and Dinklage wasn’t the man for the job… whether or not the direction they wanted to head was true, Dinklage has played many a character in comedic films. To say he is not suited for comedy is ridiculous.
As soon as I read the words “We want to take Tyrion in a more comedic, farcical direction” and Warwick in the same sentence I knew it was an April Fool. Warwick and comedy? Nope.
Wow! I was TOTALLY believing this and feeling SUPER annoyed!! I was confused because Tyrion’s character was going to be made more farcical and comedic?!? That is NOT cannon! Duh. Feeling stupid now.
Damn you! I was totally fooled…
you assholes, you totally had me and i was ready to quit watching.
UR JOKING RIGHT!!!
I was reading this whole thing praying that it was a joke. THANK GOD!
Game of Thrones about to go WACK!!!….no changes pls….we love the show how it is….if we want comedy, we know what to watch
Another person failed to read the update.
Well you got me good on this one. I was totally upset of your idea of replacement because there is NONE!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHA
She didn’t read the update.
Warwick Davis in anything has to be an April fool.
Yep that got me. At first it wasnt funny, but thinking back on my reaction to this prank, ya I guess it kinda is funny.
thank god its a joke Warwick Davis would be a horrific replacement
Of course it is a joke, everybody that read the books, know that he dies in the forth book…
No offense to the new actor but NO!!! He will not be Tyrion no matter how hard he tries!!! This may even be a deal breaker for me!
I was like O_o until the part with him asking 20% of the show’s budget and cutting on other parts… no way they would spend this much
This better be a joke!
You guys are idiots. Read the whole thing. April fools…..
This had better be a joke….
Yep got me good. April fools was a BEAUTY. I shall never forgive for this heart wrenching gut ripping joke. Almost had a bloody heart attack. BASTARDS !!! well done.
Awesome joke, seems that some below here have just a sliver of a sense of humor.
Meanest. Joke. Ever!
They just killed this show! Seriously? The dragons and wolves were what we looked forward to and now they have to be cut to pay a new actor to come on the show to replace an already wonderful actor who was funny and charming already? Got a feeling season 3 will be it’s last good season.
I really hope the bigger April fools joke was “It finally hit me last week while taking an indefinite break from writing The Winds of Winter….”
You can tell how many PEOPLE on here are jokes by the fact that they took time out of their lives to argue about Big Bang Theory. Not because it sucks. Not because it doesn’t. But just because there are obviously some folks thinking WAY to much about it, and obviously NOT getting laid.
look at you raging
Very glad it was just a joke ! Feeeewww…
o.0 this gave me a heart attack! I’m totally sending this to my fiancee.
I sure as Hell hope this is an April fools joke He’s the best and most interesting character on the show!
Dicks.
1 million dollars is not 20% of 50 million dollars!
What a joke!
1 million per episode x 10 episodes = 10 million = 20% of 50 million
april fools??? i hope!!!
I knew it was a joke when i saw the picture of warwick davis
I hate you. :)
Warrick Davis does have such wit, such tenderness…but I called BS at the get go. Nice try folks! ;)
THIS WAS THE MEANEST APRIL FOOLS JOKE EVER
skipped towards the end of the article like I always do, guess that ruined it :))
NOT COOL DUDE! NOT COOL AT ALL :'( BAD JOKE
That was cruel, so, so, so, so cruel.
I almost started Crying! I was going to boycott the show!! Good one guys… DON’T DO IT AGAIN!!
How in the fuck do you go from Game of Thrones to some other shows that have absolutely nothing to do with Game of Thrones? And nickle back? Really? Are you all that fucking retarded???
April Fools lol
Wow. Not funny,.
who Kelly on big bang theory
Whew! You had me until they said they would digitally etch out his face. Wow – that was a good one. LOL!
This is so wrong for so many Reason’s. I am sorry but peter made the show. He was my favorite character. Sorry but I don’t think any short person can come in and take over. This will probably ruin the show for me.
Not cool guys…. not cool.
bitches aint funny– peter is this show.
If you check out HBOWatch on their Facebook page you will see that this is, in fact, a joke. http://www.facebook.com/WatchHBO
APRIL FOOLS…..RIGHT???
CUZ IF THIS IS THE TURN THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE WITH TYRION, THEN THEY NEED TO JUST KILL HIM OFF…..NOT REPLACE HIM.
NO ONE CAN REPLACE HIM
Oh, SH**, I just read the rest of the article…..(00)
My heart dropped for a moment! Peter is my favorite character and would be DEVASTATED if he left! In the books Tyrion is my favorite! Love Him!
I just kept scrolling till I found “April Fools”. Thank goodness it was there.
Obviously a joke. They filmed season 3 and 4 simultaneously back to back. How can anyone be fooled?
This joke was far too obvious to think it wasn’t an april fools, and so lost all impact. Little lines like “after taking an indefinite break from writing” its almost sad if someone thought this was real.
OMFG I HATE APRIL FOOOOOLS
” Warwick Davis’ face will be digitally transposed over Mr. Dinklage’s in all future releases of Game of Thrones on DVD and Blu-Ray.” that’s where I knew something was fishy, that made no since
I knew it was a joke as soon as they said they were going to make Tyrion more of a comedic character. His character gets darker and more shrewd and cunning as the books progress.
As soon as I saw who they were going to replace him with I knew it was a joke.
OMG, I was outraged and furious before I realized this was an April fool’s joke!
when that piece of crap show “Big bang theory” was mentioned I knew it was bullshit.
This comment is HILARIOUS and ORIGINAL. Thank you for sharing your superior intelligence and opinion with us! People like you make me realise life is worth living!
Bit mean to Warwick, yes?
april fools?????
Bahahahaha
Dinklage isn’t funny? Call me Elf One More Time… I will not be watching season 4
a lot of hate
is the decline of the show?! peter is PERFECT as tyrion!! his character is NOT “comedic” in the books, as a matter of fact he gets darker and angrier and murderous!!!!!
There should have been more on how Life’s Too Short was going to have a whole behind the scenes to GOT. In fact this April Fool’s Joke would still be a great episode of that show.
I hate you! I was yelling WHAT, WHAT, WHAT…NOO throughout this article.
First time I’ve fallen for April Fools in years… timing was too right. Damn you! haha
mother of god!
Please tell me this is April Fools!
so not funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (but hilariously funny, will share) You are gonna give people a heart attack, you know that right?
NOOOO!!!!! NO ONE CAN REPLACE PETER!!!!!! HE PLAYED TYRION TOO WELL!!!
Peter Dinklage is why I watched
i had my doubts when i read that he wanted 1 million per episode… they can’t show “a lot less” of the dragons and direwolves. they’re a big part of the story!
Thank God it’s a joke. Tyrion is my favourite character in the show and Peter is the BEST actor in this part. I’ve read all the books (hanging out for the next ones) and I can’t imagine any else doing it as well as he does. He’s brilliant!
My goodness, I just wanted to read the reactions of this awesome April Fool’s joke and I end up scrolling through a whole bunch of people criticizing each other on the apparently debatable worth of TBBT. We’re all entitled to our own opinions (although I didn’t expect so many people to put other peoples’ opinions down). Back to Game Of Thrones now…
Im sorry but Big Bang Theory effing rocks, but Peter Dinklage is the hottest little person I’ve ever seen.. both equally important in MY REALM …
less dire wolves and dragons. digitally re-do his face… as if it was obvious enough
April Fools MUDA!!! Im hoping to see this, soon O_O i hope -_-
got me until i saw the “transposed face” part. well played!
You sons of bitches lol!!!!! I was already half way through writing my season 4 review and how you guys destroyed it hahahaha. I was seriously praying while reading this article that it was a April Fools joke!
For those who thinks TBBT is a bad show, sarcasm? No? LOL
Oh my god ,,,I was freaking out hahahaha ,so glad it was a joke.
in knew it was a joke as soon as they said any released episodes from this point forward would have Warwick’s face on Peters body LOL
EVIL!
This so got me! What a relief.. forgot all about April 1st! :D
BAZINGA PUNK!
I’ve not seen 1 good april fools joke this year. Everyone is losing their creativity and imagination.
Oh come on! For those who don’t like TBBT, is it a sarcasm? No? LOL
man i was so bummed till i read the update part…….was telling my wife they just f’ed the show. and was gonna go get the current season before they took him out completely. just happy it was not for real
Also, how did this turn into a Big Band bashing? Seriously? Some people like it, some people don’t. Does it really matter?
I would rather see more dragons and have his character killed off, than pay a little person, great actor as he is such and exorborant fee for such a silly little humourous role.
You guys had me going for a good hour! I didn’t read further, it was all too much to take in, I was devastated. I wracked my brain for an hour, on how this was even possible. It took me a whole hour to figure out it was April 1. I hate you.
Whoever did this is evil. I noticed the flaws but still. I had real fear. I’m slightly in love with Tryion so this truly scared me.
Eeeem, if they actually mean it, they shouldn’t have published this on April 1st xD
whoever came up with this farce owes me a new cell phone and needs to fix a hole in my wall haha
Shame its a joke, he’s rubbish in it anyway!
April Fools!
So Leprechaun/Willow is going to be Tyrion Lannister… WTF
I was ready to revolt! No one by Peter can play Tyrion!! Don’t get me wrong, Warwick Davis is a good actor, but I can’t see Willow or Professor Flitwick screwing the local bar wenches lol!
We can’t have willow do this!
An indefinite break on TWoW? That was the giveaway for me.
damn i allmost got an hearthattack
whew….don’t mess with me like that. Nearly had a sh%*
April fools?
“I know this was one of the cruelest jokes anyone could have played on the first of April.. ”
..except that is totally, and utterly obvious.A good April Fool’s joke should be about something somewhat believable.
Oh you f***ers. You had me!
YOU GOT ME!
I all but had a coronary!! Damn April Fool’s Day enthusiasts!!!
You son’s of bitches…I’m about to post this and do my own April Fools lmao
OMG THANK GOD this was a joke! I almost texted a bunch of people with this devastating news. The one part that was suspicious was when they would digitalized Warwik’s face onto Dinklage’s face for future DVDs.
You Suck!!! It was a cruel but funny and well thought out prank. You got me
I read the title of the article and my very first thought was: “I have lost half of my desire to watch the show at all!” I almost didn’t read the rest of the article, but I’m so glad I did. Huge sigh of relief!
YOU SUCK! Thank god he’s not leaving, he’s the whole reason I love this show.
You soooo got me….I just went on a tirade….lol….Damn you, sooo not fair…
So I know this is a joke, and I can laugh about it now that I know I’m not having a heart-attack, but I just want to make it clear to HBO: Replace Peter Dinklage and you are dead to me. DEAD!
tv pls go
cant believe this!!!!! silly decision…he was one of the best
omg…I totally fell for this. phew. He’s one of my favorites! so happy this is a joke!
Ye bunch of shaggers!!
OMG, they got me so good! We were yelling about this, and only realized it was April Fool’s by looking at the comments. lol
april fools
The thing that made it believable is that people are foolish and stupid. Also, an actor is a real person, and contrary to fandom, they are not owned, not even by their characters, yet it is typical to treat them as such. Thumbs down for an April Fool’s. But this gives me hope you can do better ;) :)
GG, you just killed a great show.
Holy cow, i really thought it was true… I’m still stun lol
GRRM taking an indefinite break from writing, however, is not a joke. Sounds pretty much par for the course.
Well played HBO, if you ever do that again, you’re blacklisted! Gave me a heart attack!
Thats just evil, lol
Well, to be honest, I got suspicious when I read Warwick’s price per episode. 1 mil? Are you f***ing serious?
But still, not a better April Fooling than Google Nose :)
DON’T! EVER AGAIN!
Whoa you got me
So, who’s Kelly on the big bang theory?
Kelly Cuoco = Penny
This better be an April Fool’s joke, he’s the best damn one on the whole show!
Have you lost the ability to scroll down with your mouse?
I almost shit myself reading this…that was a cruel joke! I have to say though, I love the Big Bang Theory.
This is certainly a joke. They’re going to pay Willow 20 percent of the entire budget to have him on the show? Give me a break.