'Game of Thrones' Season 8 Release Date: Why a Summer 2018 Premiere Is Becoming Unlikely
Now that "Game of Thrones" season 7 is officially over, some fans are starting to ask when the next one will premiere. However, given some recent news, the more precise inquiry is whether season 8 will start airing in the summer of 2018.
Just recently, The Hollywood Reporter cited anonymous sources that said the filming of season 8 might be extended up to August 2018. That ultimately removes any possibility of seeing the season finale by the summer of next year.
Fans may also recall that when showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff were asked about the possible season 8 release schedule, they both did not know yet. Benioff told Entertainment Weekly in July: "We honestly don't know yet. There's been a lot of back and forth about air dates. That's a long way off from being settled."
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It has also been established months ago that season 8 will only have six episodes. However, these are expected to run much longer. In the Con of Thrones event last July, the show's sound designer Paula Fairfield reportedly confirmed that the season 8 episodes would last 82 minutes each.
HBO executive Casey Bloys also partly confirmed it in July during the Television Critics Association and said: "I imagine they'll be longer but . . . I'm not sure [how long]. We haven't had that discussion yet ... Two hours per episode seems like it would be excessive, but it's a great show, so who knows?"
If Fairfield accurately leaked that season 8 episodes will run for at least 82 minutes each, that would mean more work for the post-production team. It is common knowledge that computer generated images take much more time to process so the crew will likely need more time now that fans can expect to see more of the army of the dead.
Last Sunday, millions of fans around the world witnessed the drama-filled finale of "Game of Thrones" season 7. While it was not as action-packed as the previous season endings, it still bore several shocking scenes that no one probably thought of happening in the past years.
For one, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) met at the Dragonpit in King's Landing without spilling any blood. The Southerners finally learned that White Walkers were real.
However, the ultimately surprising scenes include the execution of Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen); the White Walkers breaking and passing through the Wall; and Jon and Dany making love - which was something that evidently did not sit well with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage).
Like all "Game of Thrones" season finale episodes, season 7's also created an entirely new web of questions that need to be answered in the eighth and final season of the show.
