The upcoming season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, which premieres July 16, will be shorter than the other seasons at just seven episodes. The eighth and final season, following this one, will be even shorter at just six. But lest you think that means we could get it sooner, think again. According to HBO programming president Casey Bloys it may take longer.
Entertainment Weekly interviewed Bloys and asked him about the Thrones spinoff projects the network was considering. Bloys told them none of those ideas will be developed until the showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, were finished with the original series. EW then asked if it was possible for the final season to be delayed into 2019. Bloys replied, “Yeah. 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.”
In other words, it’s not a definite that the final season of GoT will be delayed, but a delay won’t be refused if they need it. HBO really has to be commended for letting these guys take the time to get this right — the final episode, whenever it appears, is going to be culturally huge on the scale of the final MASH or Seinfeld. With that much pressure, you don’t want whoever winds up on the throne in the end to disappoint!
