Sick of waiting for Guillermo Del Toro to adapt 'The Hobbit' for the big screen? This news might help tide you over: HBO has officially picked up fantasy series 'Game of Thrones' for a 10-episode season.

The show is based on George R. R. Martin's best-selling 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novels, which, admittedly, I have never read. Still, I'm excited about the possibilities for this series. HBO did family drama right ('Six Feet Under'), reinvented the Western ('Deadwood'), gave us a wonderfully quirky vampire show ('True Blood'), and the greatest police drama of all time ('The Wire'). I can't wait to see what an epic HBO fantasy series will look like.

The main cast includes 'Lord of the Rings' vet Sean Bean, one-time 'Narnia' denizen Peter Dinklage, former Sarah Connor Lena Headey and future Conan the Barbarian Jason Momoa in a recurring role. The story is epic in scope, chronicling the conflicts of kings, queens, knights and rebels in the mythic terrain of 'Westeros'.

Screenwriter David Benoiff ('Brothers', 'The Kite Runner') is producing alongside D.B. Weiss with a pilot script from 'The Station Agent' director Thomas McCarthy.

We're still waiting to hear about a premiere date, but production kicks off in Belfast in June. Check out a larger version of the first teaser pic over at SciFi Wire.

(via: The Hollywood Reporter)