Game of Thrones Season 8 Filming Will Go on Until Summer

It had previously been rumored that with the shorter episode count of the final season of Game of Thrones, that the episodes themselves would be much longer to make up for it. Now, in an interview with TV Guide, actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, in the series, says the episodes will certainly be longer because their filming schedule is longer.

“[The episodes are] definitely going to be bigger and what I hear is longer. We’re filming right up until the summer. When you think about it, up until last season we’d have six months to do ten episodes, so we’re [doing] way more than that for six episodes. So that obviously will translate into longer episodes.”

The actor also confirmed to the outlet that he officially begins work on the final season this Sunday with a table read of the first episode in Belfast.

Game of Thrones is based on the novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin. In Season 6, the TV series moved past the point where the books have stalled.

Returning series regulars will include Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Sophie Turner(Sansa Stark) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Rory McCann (Sandor “The Hound” Clegane) and Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion).

The executive producers of Game of Thrones are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield; co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, George R.R. Martin and Bryan Cogman; and producers are Chris Newman, Greg Spence and Lisa McAtackney.

It remains to be seen when Game of Thrones Season 8 will premiere, but it’s been previously reported that the series may not return until 2019. Spin-off shows are also in development for HBO, which creator George R.R. Martin is working on with various screenwriters.