That chill you're feeling is Game of Thrones fans realizing that Winter has come for their favorite HBO series. We've known for some time that showrunner D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were wrapping things up with an eighth season likely to be the last, but it hadn't been confirmed by anyone at HBO. Well, that's changed this weekend as the Television Critics Association press tour where the network's head of programming, Casey Bloys, made it official.
Asked whether he intended to honor the course Weiss and Benioff had planned to conclude the show after season eight, Bloys replied...
“Yes, I think they have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do, If I could get them to do more, I would take 10 seasons, but we want to take their lead with what they can do and what the best version of the show is.”
Yes, I think many people would like to see ten seasons, especially since there are likely to be fewer episodes coming up. Season season, which won't arrive until next summer, is only going to have seven episodes, below the usual ten. Weiss and Benioff previously said they had thirteen episodes left in them so we can assume the final season will have six, but Bloys says that number has yet to be determined. So it's possible there could be more...but it's also possible there could be fewer. D'oh.
And of course there are hopes of some kind of movie or spinoff, and Bloys says he's definitely open to the idea...
“We’ve talked about it, it’s something I’m not opposed to, but of course it has to make sense creatively. I’m not sure that [Benioff and Weiss] could really wrap their heads around it when they’re just about to start production [on season 7]. It’s a pretty intense production, they’re about to start production soon. I’m open to it. The guys weren’t opposed to it, but there’s no concrete plans for it at this point.”
Can I get some kind of Brienne, Tormund, Bronn team-up series or something? [EW]
