'Game of Thrones' season 5 filming halted after Church in Croatia bans 'Nude Walk'

Game of Thrones marathon HBO

The cast and crew of "Game of Thrones" is facing a big difficulty as they were unable to obtain a permit to film one of the crucial scenes for the next season.

The fifth season of the highly-acclaimed HBO series "Game of Thrones" is reported to be back on air in early 2015, but the cast has started filming, which give them ample time to shoot. However, they encountered a problem while prepping for the next season.

One of the crucial scenes to be included in season 5 is Cersei Lannister's (Lena Headey) walk of shame. Tyrion's sister will be publicly humiliated. In the book, Cersei accuses Margaery of adultery and treason, but her plans backfire. Cersei is punished and made to strip naked and walk from the Great Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep.

However, the production team could not film the particular scene since the film commission of Dubrovnik, Croatia denied the crew a permit because the city bans public nudity, according to TMZ.

Some reports claimed that the incident was a personal sabotage by Bishop Anthony IV who disdained the content and the "public display of sexuality." Thus, the church allegedly wielded pressure on the film commission in Croatia to deny the production team the necessary permit to shoot the scene.

The Church of St. Nicholas in Dubrovnik, Croatia was used to show Kings Landing in the series. There are three ways to get around this. First, this incident may make the production team fold and omit the controversial scene. Another way is the team can find a similar location where they can shoot the scene. Lastly, they can tastefully shoot the scene and succumb to censorship.

The scene was reportedly of vital importance in character development next season, which means that the showrunner and author George R.R. Martin may not be too thrilled about cutting the scene. The people behind the series still have not commented about the issue and their places were still under wraps.

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