Game of Thrones fans have grown accustomed to an extended wait between seasons. While many network shows try to get as many seasons going as quickly as possible, HBO has given showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff all the time they need to get the massive series right each time, and they've taken every last second provided them. As season seven nears and fans eagerly await to see how things wrap up with season eight, the wait may be even longer.
HBO's programming president Casey Bloys told EW that the shortened eighth season, which is only six episodes, may not arrive in 2018, but instead in 2019. And the reason is about what you would expect, that Weiss and Benioff need to get everything perfect.
He said, “They have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule. We’ll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing...Making ‘Game of Thrones’ as good as possible is the No. 1 goal, and then we’ll see about these scripts. You’re not going to see a situation where the next show in the ‘Thrones’ universe launches off the back of this one. The show that Dan and David have created will get its proper send off first. We wouldn’t want to take away from that in any way,”
So there's still a chance it could arrive earlier, but if HBO is even willing to suggest a 2019 premiere it means they're already planning on it. And you can bet when they start moving on the proposed prequels they'll be just as meticulous.
Game of Thrones' seventh season kicks off on July 16th.
