Now that it’s cold and snowy in most parts of the world, Season Seven of Game of Thrones, which aired in July and finished in August seems far in the past, even if it’s easier to relate to Jon Snow’s constant need for furry ensembles than it was in the sweltering heat of the summer.
Most of us, dedicated fans and casual watchers alike, are probably itching for a new season of Thrones by now, but it’s probably best to prepare for a long wait. While we’ve been aware of informal rumors for several months that the show might not return next year, we finally received much more official confirmation. In a recent interview with Variety, Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, and was promoting her new role in a X-Men movie said, “Game of Thrones comes out in 2019.” A bit of a disappointment to be sure!
The delay makes a certain amount of sense– Thrones aired later than usual this year, and only began filming the new season in October. Rumor also has it that the crew wants to make use of the chilly Icelandic winter to depict the increasingly frigid conditions of Westeros, now that winter has come, so it is logical that filming is going into the early months of the new year. It will be interesting to see how the fandom fares with a year long wait between seasons. People were getting antsy, merely with the release of the latest season in July rather than the usual April, but HBO seems fairly secure in its show’s hold over audiences, enough to risk them losing interest or patience over a year of inactivity.
Of course, they have good reason to not worry too much about public dissension. The show continues to gain acclaim across the board. Game of Thrones’ score by the talented Ramin Djawadi just got its first Grammy nomination and HBO has also declared its intentions of submitting their two leading actors Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington for the 2018 Golden Globes. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones continues to make HBO lots of money, even when the show isn’t airing, thanks to the public’s insatiable desire for merchandise…Funko is apparently putting out three new Game of Thrones Pop! figures, and goodness knows we all want them. It’s doubtful that the general obsession with Game of Thrones will die down too much over 2018, but we will have to wait and see.
What do you make of a year without Game of Thrones?
