Game of Thrones to leave Dubrovnik

The sixth season of the popular HBO series "Game of Thrones" won’t be filmed in Dubrovnik. In fact the whole of Croatia will be bypassed by the HBO production crew as the filming moves on location to Spain. Is this the end of the Game of Thrones story in Dubrovnik and Croatia? An official statement from HBO hasn’t really helped to answer that issue. – The question of whether the production will return to Croatia will be resolved once HBO officially decides on the new season. At the moment production requires specific locations on the basis of scenarios and stories. HBO is grateful to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre for their support – read the official statement from HBO.Dubrovnik has been used as a location for the popular HBO serial since season two and with season six planned to be filmed in the autumn it seems that Dubrovnik is off the radar for this year. There has been speculation in the press that the serial wouldn’t be filmed in Croatia any more. Inside sources suggest that clips of Dubrovnik that were filmed last year for will be used in season six. And the official HBO statement doesn’t give much hope that HBO will be back. However as the American television giant are renowned for playing their cards very close to their chest maybe we shouldn’t read too much into this statement.Winter is not coming to Dubrovnik!The news that season six will not be filmed in Dubrovnik comes only weeks after the City of Dubrovnik invested 750,000 Kunas into the creation of a Game of Thrones visitors centre on the island of Lokrum. And over the past few years’ souvenir shops and themed Game of Thrones tours have sprung up all over the city, this news will greatly affect their business for next season. Apart from Dubrovnik the Croatian cities of Split and Sibenik have also been used as locations for the serial.Suspicions were raised with fans of the serial when the local production company didn’t advertise for extras for the new season. Every year around 300 extras are required in Dubrovnik and Split. The Spanish city of Girona has been mentioned as a replacement for Dubrovnik for this year. Whether this is a temporary replacement or a permanent one remains to be seen.Follow The Dubrovnik Times on Facebook and Twitter