The 10-episode sixth season of Game of Thrones is premiering on HBO on Sunday, April 24, but it might just be the last season with that many episodes. Talking to Variety, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss say they are weighing wrapping up the saga with just 13 more episodes once the sixth season is over. That would be seven episodes for Season 7 and six for the eighth season.
“I think we’re down to our final 13 episodes after this season. We’re heading into the final lap,” said Benioff. “That’s the guess, though nothing is yet set in stone, but that’s what we’re looking at.” The seventh season is scheduled to go into production this July.
Weiss and Benioff added that they can’t continue producing 10 episodes in a 12- or 14-month time frame. “It’s crossing out of a television schedule into more of a mid-range movie schedule,” Weiss said.
HBO programming president Michael Lombardo did say that there’s no deal in place yet for shorter seasons, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Based on the popular book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin, the hit Emmy-winning fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom. The ensemble cast for the fifth season included Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Diana Rigg, Natalie Dormer, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner. Former “Deadwood” star Ian McShane is also set to guest star in Game of Thrones season six.
David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield are the executive producers. The co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin.
Game of Thrones season five began with a power vacuum that protagonists across Westeros and Essos were looking to fill. At Castle Black, Jon Snow struggled to balance the demands of the Night’s Watch with those of newly-arrived Stannis Baratheon, who styles himself the rightful king of Westeros. Meanwhile, Cersei scrabbled to hold on to power in King’s Landing amidst the Tyrells and the rise of a religious group led by the enigmatic High Sparrow, while Jaime embarked on a secret mission. Across the Narrow Sea, Arya sought an old friend while a fugitive Tyrion found a new cause. And as danger mounts in Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen found that her tenuous hold on the city requires some hard sacrifices.
