The makers of HBO's "Game of Thrones" are happy with the IMAX conversion of their fantasy drama, Entertainment Weekly reported.

"I'm still kind of in shock," executive producer Dan Weiss admitted after emerging from a private screening of the first clips converted to the (really) big screen. "It's a completely different viewing experience, one that's so immersive and so superior," Weiss added.

IMAX used its its proprietary DMR conversion process to adapt the format of two "Thrones" episodes, the magazine detailed. Technicians "extracted an unprecedented degree of visual and audio detail from the show's original source material" and presented the result to Weiss and co-producer David Benioff.

Fans will be able to participate in the experience when IMAX starts its week-long "Game of Thrones" run at 10 p.m. on Thursday night. On the program are two episodes from the fourth season ("The Watchers on the Wall" and "The Children," the season finale), and the reruns will be topped of by the much-anticipated trailer for Season 5.

"The communal experience of being surrounded by other people who are gasping at the same moments is the way it's really meant to be seen," Benioff told the magazine. "To feel like you're there is just something you don't get while watching on television."

But Time warned that "Thrones" fanatics who purchased tickets for the IMAX event may well end up "disappointed." Television writers are taking advantage of their longer timelines to create interesting storylines rather than visual spectacle, which is precisely why the fantasy drama "proved too large" for the cinematic format, the magazine argued.

Whatever their impression of the IMAX adaptations, fans were treated to a preview of what they can expect in the series' next season, the Wrap noted.

Some of the scenes revealed in the trailer showed King Tommen Baratheon mourning at his dead grandfather's side; Tyrion Lannister hitting the beach face first; Lord Varys telling Tyrion that Westeros needs a leader loved by millions "with the right family name"; and Daenerys Targaryen promising to "break the wheel."

The new season is set to premiere on Sunday, April 12.

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