Veteran Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa won’t return for season 8

Jeremy Podeswa, left, with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the set of episode 1 of season 6, "The Red Woman," in 2016.
Jeremy Podeswa, left, with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the set of episode 1 of season 6, “The Red Woman,” in 2016.

Emmy Award-nominated director Jeremy Podeswa brought several iconic Game Of Thrones episodes to life, including the premiere and finale of season 7 — “Dragonstone” and “The Dragon and The Wolf,” respectively — and episode 2 of season 6, “Home,” which saw Jon Snow gasp his way back to life and soothe the troubled hearts of the fandom who worried his demise was permanent.

Unfortunately, Podeswa recently confirmed to CBC News that he won’t be behind the lens for any of the six episodes of season 8 when Thrones returns.

Podeswa also insisted he doesn’t know who will end up on the Iron Throne in the end or if there will even be an Iron Throne to claim. He also said he opted not to learn the details of season 8, preferring to be as surprised as anyone.

“I have no idea. Any of [the cast] could be amazing on the Iron Throne,” Podeswa said. “I think the story could end in so many different ways that would be satisfying to an audience. I’m excited to see the last season and find out that way.”

Director of photography Gregory Middleton — who worked with Podeswa on all six of his episodes — indicated via Twitter that he would not be returning for season 8 either, and also confirmed what Podeswa told CBC.

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The full interview is available here.

Special thanks to Ryan Neuner for this tip!

64 Comments

  1. Podeswa, in my opinion, is great at atmosphere, but not so good at action scenes. If the final season is going to have a lot of action, this is probably for the best.

    Still, thank you, Jeremy, for everything you’ve brought to the show. 🙂

  2. H.Stark:
    Taylor, Nutter, Sackheim, Sapochnik.
    If there are not new directors have to be some of those.

    That would be good maybe include Bender. Hopefully no Mylod either.

  3. Just throw a boatload of money at Sapochnik and let him direct all 6. Or split the season amongst 3 directors – Sapochnik, Bender and Shakman. Even though Shakman’s a newbie, he directed this season’s best episode so I would love to see more from him.

  4. Laura:
    Just throw a boatload of money at Sapochnik and let him direct all 6. Or split the season amongst 3 directors – Sapochnik, Bender and Shakman. Even though Shakman’s a newbie, he directed this season’s best episode so I would love to see more from him.

    Since they film in so many different areas it would not be feasible for Sap to direct all 6.

  5. Sapochnik is the only one we need. At least in those action episodes. I’d give him at least 4 episodes if not all six. Do it now HBO!

  6. I’m itching to find out the director lineup for the last season, probably 3 directors, though I wouldn’t mind one for each episode.
    I can probably guess a few, but can’t wait until they announce it.

  7. Miguel Sapochnik, Neil Marshall, Matt Shakman, David Nutter. If Alan Taylor gets an episode, it should be the season opener.

  8. I said this in the interview thread yesterday, but when it comes to crafting scenes that derive their emotional power from silence, stillness, and slowly-building anticipation, I genuinely feel that few directors working on this show have done it better than Jeremy Podeswa. He’s crafted some of the most beautiful sequences that Game of Thrones has ever produced.

    Dany’s breathtaking arrival on Dragonstone after a lifetime away. Sandor digging graves in the snow. Tyrion and Jorah sailing through the ruins of Old Valyria. Sansa’s haunting, dark-fairy-tale-turned-nightmare wedding in the Winterfell godswood. Jon’s resurrection. Jon and Dany’s love scene. The sequence of snow starting to fall on King’s Landing. Just to name a few. “The Dragon and the Wolf” is one of my favorite episodes of the entire show, and overall, I thought Podeswa’s direction was marvelous.

    I’m not too surprised that he’s not going to return for Season 8. He’s done two episodes in each of the past three seasons, which is a hell of a time commitment, and the final season is likely to be heavy on large action setpieces, which isn’t what he’s known for. But I’ll always be grateful for everything that he brought to the show.

  9. D&D should hire any of these 5 directors:

    Alex Graves

    Alik Sakhorov

    Neil Marshall

    Miguel Sapochnik

    David Nutter

    Season 8 deserves the best

  10. Drakoen,

    I thought he did a good job as well. Mark Mylod will be doing all 6 episodes in season 8. Just kidding. I agree with most that it’s going to be heavy on action. Sapochnik has to be on there for hopefully at least 2 of the 6. Taylor probably is on there too. I will be excited to see the list.

  11. Probably not realistic to have Sapochnik direct all 6, but I’ll keep hoping unless I hear otherwise.

  12. When do you guys think we’ll have the director lineup for season 8?

    Also, I hope Taylor doesn’t get a episode. Episode 6 of season 7 was probably the worst directed major action sequence of the show

  13. Jared:
    Dany’s breathtaking arrival on Dragonstone after a lifetime away. Sandor digging graves in the snow. Tyrion and Jorah sailing through the ruins of Old Valyria. Sansa’s haunting, dark-fairy-tale-turned-nightmare wedding in the Winterfell godswood. Jon’s resurrection. Jon and Dany’s love scene. The sequence of snow starting to fall on King’s Landing. Just to name a few.

    The quiet power of this scene has stuck with me big time.

  14. Wait a second. In yesterday’s article Podeswa was teasing the Jon-Dany hookup:

    “It’s an epic revelation about the past, and an epic revelation that’s suggestive of the future and what’s going to happen,” director Jeremy Podeswa told The Hollywood Reporter.

    Yet, according to today’s article:

    “He … said he opted not to learn the details of season 8, preferring to be as surprised as anyone.”

    How can he say the scene was suggestive of the future and what’s going to happen, if he doesn’t know any details about what’s going to happen?

  15. Laura,

    Shakman was terrible. The dialogues scenes were shot like talking head sitcoms and the action sequences that were not set up by the stunts and cinematography (watch/read the cinematographer’s interviews and you’ll see it was mostly his work) were a mess. I’ve never been so glad not to see a director again.

  16. Miguel Sapochnik and Neil Marshall are the two best directors to have worked on this show in my opinion. Not just because of the action either. The non action scenes in Blackwater and The Watchers on the Wall directed by Marshall were great. And episode 10 of season 6 proved Sapochnik isn’t just an action director either.

    I wouldn’t be opposed at all if these two got 4 episodes of the 6.

  17. Jonah:
    When do you guys think we’ll have the director lineup for season 8?

    Also, I hope Taylor doesn’t get a episode. Episode 6 of season 7 was probably the worst directed major action sequence of the show

    Id love to see your storyboard for that.

  18. I hope thet Sapochnik, nutter, Marshall, graves will return or at least 3 of them. Give nutter the episodes that’s low on action and high on emotion. Marshall An episode where a lot of explosions fire etc is needed he can do that very realistic (cercei action sequence???) and Sapochnik the episodes where the white walkers are majorly involved. He give them a more real vibe than Taylor did this season.

    And what about D&D I found their episodes brilliant in my opinion.

  19. I read that Sapochnik had a stressful time filming Battle of Bastards due to time constraints to film and D&D difficult demands. Maybe he doesn’t want to return to Thrones.

    But after directing 3 out of top 5 episodes in the entire series, the producers will do everything to have him back.

  20. nicnavfer:
    I read that Sapochnik had a stressful time filming Battle of Bastards due to time constraints to film and D&D difficult demands.Maybe he doesn’t want to return to Thrones.

    But after directing 3 out of top 5 episodes in the entire series,the producers will do everything to have him back.

    If they are delaying why not give him more time too shoot. Give the man more time.

    I think I know why there’s more time needed for filming. In the past they could film multiple scenes at the same time, they could schedule it. A stannis, kingslanding winter fell and the wall and essos could be filmed at the same time. Now the actors are involved more together. Now they need to wait more. Because all the actors are almost in the same place.

  21. Miguel Sapochnik, Alex Graves, Neil Marshall, Alik Sakharov, Jack Bender, Daniel Minahan would all be fantastic choices.

  22. Honestly? I’m not exactly broken up over this news, although I would much rather have Podeswa return for next season than Mark Mylod (please, Gods, can he be done with this show). Contrary to what he showed in “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”, the man CAN direct an action sequence: just look at the episodes of True Detective and The Pacific that he helmed. Even though Podeswa ultimately must bear the blame for the Sand Snake fight as that episode’s director, he wasn’t as much at fault as the fight choreographers, the assistant directors and the rushed filming schedule at the site in Seville.

    I’m a little bummed to hear that there was tension between D&D and Miguel Sapochnik last year; it would really, REALLY suck if they can’t get him back for at least one episode in Season 8. If not him, then Neil Marshall is a MUST.

  23. RBloodworth,

    I don’t think Miguel and D&D have any beef. I just tried looking it up and can’t seem to find any proof.
    Probably rumors fans always make online

  24. King Podrick,

    Agreed. He won an Emmy for directing Battle of the Bastards which was a huge career boost. Plus he appeared with D&D on the panel at last years Comic-Con where I thought they said he’d be back. And the most recent post on his twitter timeline is about Thrones. I seriously doubt there’s any kind of problem there.

  25. Sadly with Neil Marshall directing Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen I’m highly doubtful he’ll return. Miguel Sapochnik is a must have! I hope they bring Alex Graves and David Nutter back too. I think Mark Mylod will be back, even though I don’t want him to be although I must admit he did a good job with his Season 7 episodes, but he isn’t a great action director. Maybe Alan Taylor does deserve another chance to redeem himself too even though I really did love Beyond the Wall. We’ll see.

  26. I think they are going to have 4 or 3 directors.

    4 directors schedule: 1+2 , 3+4, 5, 6

    Sapochnik, Nutter, Graves and one more would be the best!

    Neil Marshall is NOT coming back 100%. He is directing the new Hellboy reboot.

  27. Jared,

    I completely agree with you on the quality of Podeswa’s episodes and that he does quieter parts extremely well, but I strongly doubt that all of Season 8 will be action.
    There certainly will be some, maybe a lot of it, but there is still need for quiet moments or even episodes and as I mentioned in another thread last week, I could see especially the very last episode as a quite one where the surviving people lick their wounds and dream of spring…

    Anyway, thanks Jeremy for 6 excellent episodes at the helm – I strongly believe that GOT is not about all the action and that does make it special.

  28. stephanos13,

    Hellboy?? Great, another reboot. C’mon Hollywood just give me Batgirl or The Flash movie.
    Anyway, I hope Neil has some time to squeeze this year for GoT. I doubt he’s jumping right away for Hellboy.

  29. Season 8 will definitely not be nonstop action and battle scenes. Right now, I’m guessing an initial prolonged scene of the army of the dead totally overwhelming a far north stronghold like The Last Hearth, the final showdown at Winterfell where they’re somehow defeated by some combo of Jon’s heroics and Bran’s magic, and some clash between whatever is left of Cersei’s forces and whoever is left to fight her.

    Outside of those, Cersei’s death won’t come in battle, the resolution to the Euron, Yara, and Theon plot won’t involve a battle, Melisandre’s return and whatever role she plays won’t involve her fighting, and Bran and Sam have some important role to play scouring books and memories. Jon and Daenerys need to have some smaller scenes together to resolve whatever is going to become of them as a couple and as rulers once they realize they’re related.

    I don’t expect a 9 hour protracted version of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Just the battles we do get are going to be absurdly larger than life, involving dragons on both sides, possibly elephants, possibly Nymeria’s wolf pack, the entire army of the dead in its full glory, battles with a hundred thousand fighters on both sides, taking place in feet of snow. But there should be multiple entire episodes with no battles at all. Life is not going to beat death on the battlefield. It’ll take magic of some sort. Bran didn’t gain these fantasy superpowers at the cost of losing his humanity and killing nearly everyone who helped him just to bring down Littlefinger.

  30. nicnavfer,

    Shooting BoB was stressful, yes. According to interviews and DVD extras they fell behind schedule, Sapochnik spoke to D&D, told them he couldn’t film exactly what was in the script and said he had an idea for something else (the wildling stampede and Jon almost suffocating). They apparently said yeah okay, we trust you and let him do it. Good thing too – it worked out really well.

    He may have concerns about the production schedule being too tight again but the relationship with D&D appears fine. They actually seem to give the directors, especially in battle scenes, a fair bit of freedom. Sapochnik has clout now so I’m sure if he requests more time he’ll get it.

  31. I thought they had already announced the directors for some reason and thought d&d would be doing the last two episodes. I don’t how I could have imagined that lol
    *Nevermind. I just realized I was thinking of who would be writing the last episodes and d&d are writing the last four

  32. King Podrick:
    RBloodworth,

    I don’t think Miguel and D&D have any beef. I just tried looking it up and can’t seem to find any proof.
    Probably rumors fans always make online

    After the Iron Fist debacle, Sapochnik could probably use GoT to get some of his luster back, frankly.

  33. I’m more worried about Dave Hill writing an episode.
    Also I prefer Podeswa over Graves.
    I think Alan Taylor will direct at least one ep. he seemed to have seen the S8 script in his interviews

  34. It’s not always easy to distinguish between bad directing and problems arising from writing/planning/acting. For the most part, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Podeswa’s episodes, and I’d have liked to see him return. Still enough other quality directors left though, and with the longer time in between, I hope they can all get the absolute best out of the script and actors.

    If I had one wish, it would be to see Sapochnik take on (at least) the final episode, as he knows how to let the characters breath to create gripping cinematography.

  35. I’d love to see Miguel also, but not certain if that will happen. Would be a great way to end the series with him directing at least a couple of episodes!

  36. BigMac,

    i feel awful for saying this, but I’m relieved. There is one more director I’d hope was left out.

    I need Alan Taylor badly. Two eps! He did Beyond the Wall in epic-style.

  37. Elizabethe: Sapochnik take on (at least) the final episode, as he knows how to let the characters breath to create gripping cinematography.

    Quote Reply
    Kevin1989
    August 31, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Adam,

    The last battle will be at kings landing. It’s already foreshadowed.

    Quote Reply
    Dee Stark
    August 31, 2017 at 8:30 am

    Awww that’s too bad
    love his work

    Quote Reply
    Elizabeth
    August 31, 2017 at 10:03 am

    I’d love to see Miguel also, but not certain if that will happen. Would be a great way to end the series with him directing at least a couple of episodes!

    Quote Reply
    EA
    August 31, 2017 at 12:20 pm

    BigMac,

    i feel awful for saying this, but I’m relieved. There is one more director I’d hope was left out.

    I need Alan Taylor badly. Two eps! He did Beyond the Wall in epic-style.

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    Eastwatch was a bit rough, but I think it may have been editing, more or less. There were shots I didn’t understand. Tyrion/Jaime meet was one of the, it just wasn’t shot right.

  38. I am hoping for Alan Taylor, David Nutter and Tim van Patten. 3 of the best directors out there. And it would be nice if van Patten could direct the final two episodes. That would be coming full circle.

  39. Interesting that Podeswa won’t be back, I assume we’ll hear something over the next month or so before filming begins in October as to who the directors are. At this moment I’d guess Miguel Sapochnik will be there given we are expecting some heavy action plus perhaps Alan Taylor to do the finale which will likely be more character based.

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