20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About George RR Martin

2. He Owns A Cinema

People like to rib George R.R. Martin for the long delay between A Song Of Ice And Fire books but, c'mon guys, those things are really long. What is he doing the rest of the time though? Well, he's writing scripts for the Game Of Thrones TV show, he's writing prequel novellas about the early years of Westeros, and other tie-in books and merchandise. Oh, and he owns a cinema. Whilst Martin isn't in charge of the day-to-day management of the establishment, but he did save it from an untimely demise (which seems out of character for him). One evening he was getting a takeaway and passed by his sad former local picturehouse, which had languished in disuse for years. It was then that he had the brainwave to re-open it himself, using his ASOIAF royalties. He hired Jon Bowman, the founder and former director of the Santa Fe Film Festival, to manage it whilst Martin stumped up the cash. Bowman made national news when the cinema decided to screen Seth Rogen and James Franco's The Interview, despite threats of retaliation from North Korea.