Prepare to do some waiting
Another season of Game of Thrones has come to an end, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped thinking about what’s next.
There are a number of questions that we have, including when Game of Thrones will return for its eighth and final season. The answer is that we unfortunately don’t know. We also don’t know who is confirmed to return and help direct the series’ final six episodes, when the series will end and whether Bran Stark is the Night King.
On a more positive note, there are some things we do know for certain. We know that Game of Thrones’ final season will contain six episodes and include some of the longest episodes to date. We know that most of the major players from the seventh season will return for the show’s eighth and we know filming on the final season begins this October.
Here’s what else we know…
Game of Thrones probably won’t return until 2019
It’s true that HBO hasn’t announced when Game of Thrones will return, but don’t prepare to see a new season until 2019. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will start production on the new season in October. Sources close to The Hollywood Reporter have suggested that this will be one of the longest shooting periods for the show and could run through August 2018. If this were to happen, Game of Thrones likely wouldn’t premiere before 2019.
This isn’t the first HBO series to take extra production time between seasons. Westworld, HBO’s new series that premiered last year, was quick to build a rabid audience. When the show came to an end, however, HBO president Casey Bloys confirmed that Westworld won’t return until 2018, allowing showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy time to write the series and spend more time on production.
Despite Game of Thrones’ final season only being six episodes, this will be one of the most extravagant to date. There will be massive wars across multiple continents and, most important, warring dragons. There’s a reason the shoot might take close to a year to complete.
How long will the episodes be?
Just because there will only be six episodes doesn’t mean Game of Thrones fans will lose out. In July, sound designer Paula Fairfield reportedly told an audience gathered at Con of Thrones, an annual Game of Thrones convention, that each episode would be feature film length. That means instead of the traditional 60-minute episodes we’re used to, each episode will run around 80 minutes.
Game of Thrones’ season finale this year was 80 minutes.
Is the script for Game of Thrones’ final season locked in?
Oh, yes. Earlier this year, Bloys confirmed that Benioff and Weiss had finished writing the scripts and were trying to determine how long it would take to film each episode. Bloys couldn’t say anything about the episodes — remember this is the most tightlipped television series in existence right now — but everyone involved is very aware of how the show ends.
Do we know anything about what happens in the final season?
Officially, no. Unofficially, well, that’s a different case. HBO suffered from hacked emails and script leaks earlier this summer. Those scripts are reportedly available to read right now. How authentic those scripts are or whether they’re real is undetermined at this time.
What about those Game of Thrones spinoffs?
HBO and A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin confirmed this year that the network is working on five potential spinoff ideas. That doesn’t mean that all five ideas will get a show, however, and Bloys was quick to point out during a press event this past summer that potentially none of them could get made.
“The idea is not to do four shows,” Bloys said. “The bar set by [creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss] is so high that my hope is to get one show that lives up to it.”
Bloys has also repeatedly said that if one of these spinoff ideas does come to fruition, it won’t premiere anytime close to Game of Thrones’ season 8 finale. Martin is involved with some of the spinoffs, but there isn’t any detailed information about the individual series at this time.
HBO did confirm that it is looking at ideas from Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class), Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale) and Carly Wray (Mad Men). None of the series will revolve around “Dunk and Egg” and “Robert’s Rebellion,” which are prequels to A Song of Fire and Ice and were believed to be potential candidates for spinoffs.
Polygon will update this article with more information as it becomes available.
Source: Polygon – Full