Headey to Become Queen of Thrones

Two veterans of good-but-canceled sci-fi series, Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (New Amsterdam), will be part of a new HBO pilot based on the bestselling George R.R. Martin fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.

The adaptation, written and executive produced by David Benioff (Troy, The Kite Runner, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and D.B. Weiss, will be called Game of Thrones after the first book in the series.

The largely British cast includes, besides Headey and Coster-Waldau (who's Danish), Harry Lloyd, Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Jennifer Ehle, and Peter Dinklage (a rare American). The filming is being conduced in Northern Ireland and North Africa.

The Locus-winning, Hugo-nominated book series involves a battle among seven kingdoms and two ruling families who vie for control of the Iron Throne. Headey will portray Queen Cersei of House Lannister and wife of King Robert (Addy) and twin sister to Jaime Lannister (Coster-Waldau); her younger brother is Tyrion (Dinklage).

The rights were sold to HBO two years ago, with the idea of covering about a book per season and aiming for high-level production values on par with past successes like Rome.