Sorry, Game of Thrones fans, but that rumor that the eighth and final season won’t drop until 2019 is starting to look very likely to be true. Why? Because actor Liam Cunningham, a.k.a. Ser Davos, told TV Guide that despite having the fewest episodes ever for a Thrones season, this one will take even more time to shoot.
Remember when sound editor Paula Fairfield let slip that HBO was considering feature-length episodes for Season 8? Cunningham seemed to confirm that, telling TV Guide, “[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 10 episodes, so we’re [doing] way more than that for 6 episodes. So that obviously will translate into longer episodes.”
Grain of salt: another possibility, courtesy of Ser Jorah actor Iain Glen, is that the longer shoot could simply be because, with all the characters’ stories coming together, multiple units can no longer film disparate scenes at once. “We’re all starting to occupy the same territory, we’re all starting to be in the same story lines and so they can’t [have two filming units] anymore,” Glen told fans at Comic Con Stockholm on Thursday. “I think this last season will take much longer to shoot because they can only use one unit because we’re all in the same sort of scenes.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Thrones production normally wraps in December. Seasons, as we know, tend to premiere in spring or early summer. With the elaborate post-production process required for each season, they’ll need plenty of time to make those dragons look great . . . and have every confidence that fans will wait patiently for when they finally return. Even well into 2019.
If you’re feeling distraught about the show’s impending end, take some comfort in this: you’re not alone. As Cunningham said, “I mean, you people don’t want this to end, imagine how I feel. My accountant is crapping himself at the moment!”
Dragonstone, a.k.a. San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Alberto Loyo/REX/Shutterstock.
Casterly Rock, a.k.a. Castle of Trujillo, Caceres, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; from KarSol/REX/Shutterstock.
Dragonstone Beach, a.k.a. Itzurun Beach, Spain.
Left; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO, Right; by Jose Arcos Aguilar/REX/Shutterstock.
Highgarden, a.k.a. Castillo de Almodóvar del Río, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; from siete_vidas/REX/Shutterstock.
The Dornish Water Gardens, a.k.a. Seville’s Alcazar Palace, Spain.
Left; by Brian Tan, Right; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO.
Braavos, a.k.a. Girona, Spain.
Left; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO, Right; from 135pixels/REX/Shutterstock.
King’s Landing, a.k.a. Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Paul Shio.
King’s Landing, a.k.a. Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Paul Shio.
Great Pit of Daznak, a.k.a. Seville, Spain.
Left; by Botond Horvath/REX/Shutterstock, Right; by Nick Wall/Courtesy of HBO.
Astapor, a.k.a. Ait Benhaddou, Souss-Massa-Drâa, Morocco.
Left; from imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock, Right; courtesy of HBO.
