HBO On Why The Final Season Of Game Of Thrones Won’t Air Until 2019

Game of Thrones fans have a long and agonizing wait ahead of them until the final season airs in 2019. It was an announcement everyone knew was coming but nobody wanted to hear. At the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday, HBO Programming chief Casey Bloys finally delved into specifics on why we’ll have to wait even longer than usual for the eighth season.

Speaking to The Wrap, Bloys said he wants to give Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss the time they need to create a Season 8 they’ll be “most proud of.” When pressed for more, Bloys elaborated that it’s “both the actual production and then the post, and the special effects,” which could mean that even though the final season will have the fewest episodes, it could very well end up being the biggest in scope.

Bloys confirmed again that the Game of Thrones scripts were complete and that production is expected to wrap in August of this year, and that HBO was more than willing to give the creators the time they needed to realize their vision:

“We are very much talent-first. We respond to talent. Dave and [Weiss] write scripts that are great, that they’re happy with, that we’re thrilled with. We have a fantastic production team at HBO and on the ground on Game of Thrones. And when they get together and basically assess, like, ‘OK, here are the scripts we have. Here’s what it’s gonna take to produce it. Here’s special effects. Here’s finishing the cuts’ and all that. They came to us with their estimate of when it can be ready. Could we force them to do something — to come back early? I suppose we could force it. No. 1, that’s not what we do; and No. 2, we have a relationship where we trust each other. If they tell us, ‘This is the time we need,’ we’re gonna give them the time they need.”

Plot details for the eighth season of Game of Thrones are still under wraps but the final six episodes are said to be the longest episodes of the series yet. Production is currently underway, with the cost estimated to reach $15 million per episode.

Game of Thrones stars Kit Harington as Jon Snow, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister, Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, Rory McCann as Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, Conleth Hill as Varys, Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy, John Bradley as Samwell Tarly, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane, Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark, Jerome Flynn as Bronn, Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont, and Hannah Murray as Gilly.

Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on the final season of Game of Thrones as we learn it.

Source: The Wrap