Game of Thrones is one of the biggest shows on TV at the moment, and right ahead of Sunday’s Season 6 finale, real-world tumultuousness may be threatening the future of the show’s production.
As Britons head to the “Brexit” polls Thursday to decide whether or not, as a country, they want to leave the European Union, GoT fans may want to consider the ramifications their decision may have on the show.
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If British citizens select the Brexit option, production costs on grand-scale shows like GoT could very well become more expensive. If the United Kingdom leaves the EU, Northern Ireland goes as well, which could be detrimental to the show, since it’s one of the primary filming locations.
GoT has also shot in Spain, Croatia, and Malta, all members of the EU.
Peter Chase, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Brussels office, said that voting to leave the EU could have drastic effects on production.
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“It might be up in the air for U.S. studios who want to film in the U.K.,” Chase told Foreign Policy. “There are EU programs to help fund all of this. If the U.K. is no longer part of the EU, that has the potential to go away.”
Big-budget scenes (like the so-called “Battle of the Bastards” in Sunday’s GoT episode) may have to be trimmed if Brexit goes through.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see the vote’s outcome.