Game of Thrones production is winding down in Belfast, as June is likely when it all ends. Indeed: the end is nigh! But don’t worry: it’s good news; it means we’re closer to season eight… the last season of Game of Thrones ever. Okay, maybe it’s a bit bittersweet.
I’m sure that will be the general feeling tonight—lots of laughter and tears— as the cast joins in Belfast for a party before, soon enough, everyone has to go their separate ways. Some cast members have already been sighted in the city, and more are on the way!
Throughout the day (and yesterday), a number of cast members were sighted in Belfast: Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Nikolaj Coster Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), and Hafþór Björnsson (Gregor Clegane).
Just saw Isaac and John. I’m such a coward! Couldn’t even say hi *cries* #GameofThrones
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 2, 2018
The Mountain again #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/2AU9mGqAjZ
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 2, 2018
Jaime Lannister & Jon Snow hanging out in the hotel this morning. #GameofThrones #belfast pic.twitter.com/2LCe0x1NTm
— (( MaisieStyle )) (@maisiestyle) June 2, 2018
Oh Jesus Christ!!! Modern jonerys alert! Modern Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow alert!!!!
#GameofThrones #emiliaclarke @emiliaclarke pic.twitter.com/IpPXlhRIDW
— Lisa (@TheDreaded_Targ) June 2, 2018
That’s it! But only for now. Though the party will undoubtedly be a private affair, I’m sure by tomorrow we’ll have more photos of the cast in Belfast, hopefully all of them together.
We don’t technically know whether tonight’s party marks the official end of production or if filming will continue for the rest of June. Some cast members have definitely wrapped: according to Insider, Joe Dempsie and Hannah Murray finished weeks ago (likely alongside Sophie Turner, in Seville), but it seems unlikely that they’re all done, as the King’s Landing shoot is still very much active and showing no signs of slowing down. In either case, the end is nearly here and the cast wanted to celebrate before it arrived!
this is so sad. break my heart.
Wow…. this is definitely bittersweet. They deserve this after their long ass filming time.
This makes me wonder when we’re going to get a trailer. It seems like the King’s Landing shoot is their last chunk of filming. If so, I hope this baby goes into post-production as soon as possible so we can get a fall trailer (praying for October).
Amanda is very serious about getting her smooch from Pedro lol
As with blockbuster movies, Game of Thrones doesn’t have time for cleanly delineated phases of pre- and post-production. Season eight is already in post (or what usually goes on in post, anyway). CGI was being done before filming even started! The VFX teams are involved during pre-production and as the cast and crew film, all in order to make their jobs in the future easier.
I imagine we’ll have to wait for a long time for a trailer with actual footage, however. A brief teaser, though? That we may see soon-ish. Hopefully.
This is what I was said on the other post.. it’s possible that filming with the main cast has wrapped. They could still be filming action sequences with extras of course. Gutted if thats the case as I’m over in NI in 2 weeks 😩
I just HAD to use that photo, even if it’s from 2015.
Extras are very rarely the focus of the action in Game of Thrones. They know how to do action scenes right, even large battle scenes, focusing on the main characters. So I doubt that’s the case.
So now the long night really begins, hopeful we get a teaser in the coming weeks. I had been thinking July or August which sounds reasonable now. Full trailer before end of the year must be realistic.
Kit Harington has said in interviews that he is going cut his hair and shave his beard when he is finished filming Game of Thrones.
Kit Harington still looks exactly like Jon Snow so Kit could still have some season 8 scenes to film.
Edward,
I’m at least hoping for a poster (with or without a release window), or a short sigils-like teaser within the next month or so (after Westworld is over so as not to steal its thunder).
As for wrapping filming, I can’t imagine what the cast and crew are going through. It must be a very weird feeling, especially for the younger cast who have never gone through this kind of thing before.
We’ve usually gotten something at SDCC – maybe something akin to the season 6 trailer we got around the time filming for that wrapped? Old footage with a new line voiced over?
Alba Stark,
Let’s cross our fingers.
Luka Nieto,
True! I’m not really hip to the filming process of the television world as I come from a screenwriting background! I hope we get a teaser by the end of summer at least. That definitely seems possible. I can see us getting something similar to the “Long Walk” teaser that was released way in advanced of season 7. They have to whet our appetites with something especially now that Westworld is ending its season soon.
Nice to talk to you though Luka lol.
Enharmony1625,
Totally! I honestly think an official poster is closer than we think…. they need to get the hype train started somehow.
Anytime 🙂
Kit H. is always smoking. He must be a Targaryen.
“Okay, maybe it’s a bit bittersweet.”
After S8, can we officially retire the word “bittersweet” from the English language?
(Just kidding. But there must be some synonyms we can resort to now and then.)
Enharmony1625,
Heck most of them grew up there together! I do imagine that many will be in contact with each other over the years, and be in projects together but yeah, thats gonna be rough
Edward,
“Wow…. this is definitely bittersweet.”
———————-
B……t as in “this was a great ride, and now it’s coming to an end”? Or b…….t as in “this should be a happy time, but instead it’s sad”?
It’s kind of a running gag now, at least for me. So don’t hold your breath 😛
Laura,
Gotta love Amanda Peet. She’s really funny and down to earth. I’ve been a huge fan of hers ever since she stole the show in “The Whole Nine Yards.” Great comedic actress. Too bad they couldn’t cast her in GoT as a goofy, fun-loving, practical joke-playing red priestess.
Luka Nieto,
Oh, I know it is! That’s why I wanted to make sure to add that I was just kidding. Besides, GRRM is to blame for using that word many years ago…and the fandom has been trying to interpret and apply it ever since.
As for me, I’d always heard and read “bittersweet” to mean sweet tinged with a little sour so as not to be too treacly. Now I sense it’s being used to describe an ending that’s ostensibly a victory, but achieved at such great expense that everybody’s bummed out and depressed.
There’s been enough loss and sadness in S1 – S6 to fill the “bitter” quota. Though I don’t expect or want S8 to end with ewoks dancing in a forest with Ned’s smiling ghost looking on, I really don’t want to come away feeling like I was punched in the gut.
Same. I think many people are expecting too much of a bloodbath just for the sake of it.
After eight+ years together, it’s impossible not to develop a sense of comraderie. They must feel like a family, with the young ones all grown up and ready to leave the nest.
I’ve especially been impressed by Lena Headey’s mentor/role model relationship with Maisie Williams. They don’t flout it publicly. It did show itself when Maisie got her Emmy nomination and Lena immediately “tweeted” her with an excited congratulatory message that included: “Proud as fook !”
(Oops. Does this count as an Arya thread derailment?)
I would imagine both Sophie and Maisie got mentored well with Lena; I’m more happy that Mophie seem to be sisters for life.
I am expecting some series trolling pics, from them and Emilia.
Well i cant say this is great in my mind, i do expect, at least two monstruous Battles for season 8.
I was thinking that the 55 filming days that they said was for only One battle, and the battle of KL would be filmed on june , July and part of August.
But now i think its for two Battles, i Hope they apenas the restaurante of june then filming the Other battle on KL set to add these days to the Other 55 and make the final country like 80 days for two Battles. That would be great.
This year Comic Con will be the first without a season in air or after a season end. I expect at least a teaser.
Thanks for the report, Luka. I do hope we get some BTS photos of the fiesta. It’s sad and exciting to realise this is coming to its conclusion, but it must be wrenching for cast and crew. They’ve had a grand ride, and thanks to them, so have we. My primary feeling about the story’s should have a Goldilocks ending:not too sad, not too sweet, but just right.” And that it makes sense.
I love her. 😂 And I’d be the same!!!! 😘
I just replace it with ‘bullshit’ every time I see it, in Edd’s voice. 😃 Not that I think the end will be bullshit, it just makes me laugh because I have too much time on my hands…
Lena is always cheering Maisie on, and I love it!
Strange to think how attached to these characters we are, when many of them (and even some of the actors) have only fairly recently even appeared in the same place!
No news of them shooting in Canada… I want more direwolves this last season!!!
I would imagine we will see cut his hair shortly if this is the case. He tends to film a lot as he does action scenes so he may be one if the last, especially as he is very likely to be involved in any shooting at Kings Landing.
If I recall correctly we got two teasers for season six. One with Bran saying ‘they have no idea what is going to happen” which came out almost immediately when filming finished. Then we got three in one teaser with the Dothraki talking to Dany, Ramsey and High Sparrow dialogue. I would hope we will get something similar to this rather than the S7 teaser which should Jon, Dany and Cersei in costume with the proclaimers music. Either way I expect something in the next month or so.
Jon Snowed,
I thought the Long Walk was a cool teaser if not a little cheesy. Voice overs are also a little hackneyed, but anything will suffice at this point.
9 months without interviewes with D&D, Cogman or even Hill… 🙁
Won’t the poster come at the same time as the release date? I don’t recall what came first in earlier seasons. I would imagine we will get the release date towards end of summer depending upon how post production is going.
I would be happy with one of each, think we will get more than one teaser considering we are at least six months from the premiere.
Also there are pics on twitter from the party Jason Mamoa was there and also Sean Bean so very likely this was a big ending party for everyone who has been involved.
Wow, we actually got to that point!
I confess I got a bit emotional reading this – I can only imagine how emotional it must be for the cast and crew having invested a big part of their lives in the show.
Jon Snowed,
The time between the end of shooting and date release announce was always max 3 weeks.
S7: End of shooting in middle of February. Date announce on 9 March
S6: End of shooting on 17.12.2015, date announce on 8 Genuary
S5: End of shooting in December, date announce on 10 Genuary.
….
I expect that will finally know release date within two months
I knew Jason was a Leo. Any other earth signs find him to be quite “dramatic” irl? Lol.
Nice then I would hope the teaser will carry the release date! The smart money is on a Feb or March premiere.
San Diego Comic con 2018 starts July 19th. That could when a season 8 teaser is shown… Does anybody know if any Game of Thrones actors are going to be at San Diego Comic Con in July?
Agree and the timing is perfect with filming wrapping up this month.
Jon Snowed,
Next month?! That would be a treat but I’ll be shocked if we do. I would think end of year first glimpse of anything season 8 in the HBO new year promo, along with lots of other shows glimpses. Posters usually also come out in the year the season is aired if I recall correctly.
That double-middle finger photograph of Benioff could come back to haunt him if fans unhappy with the ending consider it a giant “F*ck You!” from the showrunners & GRRM.
firstone,
Don’t know about San Diego but Vladimir Furdik and Donald Sumpter are at London Comic Con in July 😨
If you follow the other threads previous seasons have aired teasers within a few weeks of filming ending so we will likely get something very soon. It’s unlikely to contain any footage however we may get some dialogue. Even so it will likely be towards the end of the year when we get our first real trailer.
Jon Snowed,
The poster of a bloodied Jon for season 6 just had “April” on it. Then a bit later the Hall of Faces posters had the release date. The ice and fire motif poster for season 7 had nothing on it though (except for #GoTS7 and “HBO”), and came quite early from what I can recall.
Patrick,
I know.. unless they were able to completely fly under the radar. I was hoping they would fly Maisie and/or Kit out here to Calgary again to film for dire wolf scenes, but I very much doubt that means we won’t see dire wolves next season. They can’t leave that hanging, and they are fully aware of how much the fans want to see more of Ghost and Nymeria. It might just be that they’re doing them entirely CGI or something.
That’s a good point and given we are at least six months away from the premiere I do wonder if we will just get a month like “GOT Feb 2019” or something to that effect. We could then get the exact date with the first trailer or another promo.
Perfect. There’s nothing from stopping the series from ending on its own terms now. Finally, once the final season is up for pre-order on blu-ray, I’m buying the entire thing.
Enharmony1625,
If I recall correctly, last year they flew Maisie to Calgary well after principal filming had been completed. So who knows? And maybe they wouldn’t need “up close and personal” shots with the wolf actors this time around, so there’d be no need to fly Kit & Maisie to Canada.
I hope I haven’t given you a complex 😬
I’m assuming we’re maybe getting a teaser at Comic Con in San Diego, a trailer near the end of the year, and a second trailer in February? Maybe? Assuming they’re going back to their usual April start for the season…
I think they had fun.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjk6ePKFcwT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=bqi0mxwbf82s
Jason is killing me. 😂 And yay Mark Addy! (and fuzzy Rory ❤)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjmEJKynTw3/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=15qtiuflc04sw
Pigeon,
Omg, I have been seeing the videos and pics come through! They’re hilarious. Nathalie and Emilia have been posting as well but Jason is on a roll! 😂
That man doesn’t do anything by halves! 😜 Kit ‘lifting’ him, haha!
This is bittersweet indeed! As fans, I’m sure we are all going to suffer the long night, also pretty sure we have been for awhile now…lol. I can’t imagine how the cast and crew feel at this point. They have been together for so long. I’m going to go crawl into a cave and hibernate until next year:(
I believe I got my first look at Amanda Peet when she guest starred in Seinfeld back in the 1990’s, and I think she’s awesome. Appropriately enough for this article, her character on Seinfeld was dating another man while she was also dating Jerry. Seems to be a role that suits her well!
this may be old news but did we get 100% confirmation that GOT will air in 2019?
If so, did we get confirmation it would be in spring? or before?
Hi Dee, I’m 99% sure we got confirmation it will air early 2019. Both James Hibberd and Kim Renfro have stated March is the most likely but nothing more than that is confirmed – most people feel Feb/March is probable.
Dee Stark,
It’s been confirmed by HBO via twitter back in January that season 8 will air in 2019, but the specifics of the month is still up in the air.
Jon Snowed,
Mr Derp,
okay perfect, thank you 🙂 Maybe the weekend after the superbowl!
I hope any and all photos of the Game of Thrones Season 8 party get posted…
Ten Bears,
They *usually* don’t flout it, but have you ever seen this wonderful interview/photo shoot they did quite a while back?
https://www.net-a-porter.com/us/en/porter/article-772b8425d2d1d28c/cover-stories/cover-stories/lena-headey
Wolfish,
I remember this Lena – Maisie interview came out and for some reason it wouldn’t download on my crappy old phone. Now it does! Thank you! I’m off to read it now…
Hi Wolfish. I owe you an email. Glad you brought up that delightful article. And TB, you are aware I hope that Rory was at the wrap party, fully bearded and looking ready for action.
It looks like our Maisie and Arya have influenced popular culture: https://uproxx.com/hitfix/game-of-thrones-solo-star-wars-story-character/
Also, this is about a week old. Maisie was with John Bradley and David Benioff at a UFC event in Liverpool. The pictures are good, but his 2-second clip is, er, intriguing:
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1000813911661252609
________________
It sure was wonderful! The photographs of Lena Headey were gorgeous.
I particularly liked the following exchanges between interviewer Maisie Williams and Lena Headey:
(from Net-a-Porter July 6, 2017)
Maisie Williams: “What advice do you have for me? How do I not end up crazy?”
Lena Headey: “I’ll always love you, Maisie, because you’ve just remained. You guys [Game of Thrones’ younger cast members] have all handled it brilliantly. I just think it’s great; you’ve grown up with this, and you’ve remained delightful. There isn’t a knob amongst you, which is incredible. Not everybody would have come out…knobless.”
**********
Maisie Williams: “What, for you, has been Cersei’s best moment?”
Lena Headey: “I think the highlight was [last season] when she blew up the Great Sept of Baelor, then just enjoyed her wine. And this season coming, because she’s lost everything. Whatever was good [in her life] has been erased and she’s a horrible cow to one particular character… It’s really quite loathsome.”
Williams: “Was the explosion in the Sept when you liked her least?”
Headey: “No! I thought that was great. The High Sparrow [played by Jonathan Pryce] was yet another man who came along and was like, “I’m going to manipulate you.” So I think her revenge… Well, I was like, “Yes! F**k you!” And she took out Margaery Tyrell [Natalie Dormer] and her low-cut blouse. Bye, perky tits.”
************
Williams: “Who do you want to meet on-screen? I always say Cersei, but I think if they ever met again, one of them would end up dead.”
Headey: “Surely Arya would kill Cersei? Arya’s such a little fiend that she would find a way. Look, she f*****g wears people’s faces.”
Williams: “So who do you want to see on the Iron Throne in the final hour? Who gets it?”
Headey: “I think she’s already sitting there, isn’t she?”
firstone,
He could also be under contract to not change his look/cut his hair until they confirm they will not need to shoot any pick up shots….which is very common.
________
Vlad and Donald are going to be together? Forget Wight Hunt. Now we know why Gendry was whinging about Melisandre in S7. S8 will feature…
Witch Hunt !
[and new character Waldo Frey with only two words of dialogue repeated over and over… “No Collusion! No Collusion!“]
Ten Bears,
Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
As utterly terrible as Cersei is, there’s also a *lot* I truly respect about her… which is why I cosplayed as Cersei at Con. Can’t wait to do it again on Halloween!
Kit said after the day of the party that he still had three weeks of filming left. Emilia and Liam have been seen with him. Nathalie said she was saying her goodbyes in town and on her way out.