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Game of Thrones news have been scarce since production wrapped for season eight. The incoming prequel is still a long ways off (longer than you may think!), and the last season isn’t going to air in some time. But how much? Some hoped for early into next year, while others were less optimistic, but the only official word was “2019”… until today!
EW just reported on this revelation by HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys, made today at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills. There, Bloys said season eight will air in the “first half” of next year, which jives with the popular prediction of HBO returning Game of Thrones to its original March/April premiere slot.
As for Jane Goldman’s prequel, supposedly set during the Long Night, Bloys dismissed the report (which did seem a tad strange) that the pilot would be filmed this October, claiming he doesn’t “know where [that] came from”, and that they’re still “searching for a director, let alone cast.” Apparently, the pilot will instead enter production around the same time season eight will be airing: HBO is “hoping to go into production in early ’19”.
Even if the prequel pilot had been filmed this year, that wasn’t going to make it air any sooner, so as “bad news” go these aren’t really that bad. As for the last season air date, it’s the best news we could have given that we knew it wouldn’t be before 2019. So, what do you guys think? Is Game of Thrones returning to its original slot for its last hurrah?
So we have confirmation that season 8 will air in the first half of 2019
Hoping for March 🙂
Thank the Lord of Light!
3/3/19.
Hodor
I haven’t had myself a good old Hodor in quite some time
Finally some concrete news on season 8. I predicted we’d get a release window sometime in late July and it’s cool to finally be right about something in regards to Thrones.
I’ll be so very grateful if we get March episodes. But April will suffice too.
Winter town,
Moderation for release time!
Great news! So latest will be June. Either way we’re less than a year away.
If it was going to be March I think he would have said first quarter of 2019, not first half. So April, May, or June is more likely. Hopefully we get an exact date by end of year.
Umm how did my comment get here? I had it on the other thread?
orr am I going crazy LOLS
I’ve been pretty confident that it will begin airing in the window beginning March to late April. One reason being that it’s more than plenty of time for post-production and going too long between seasons isn’t a good practice. Another reason is simply because it looks like a good time in HBO’s drama schedule for next year… along with enough time to qualify before the deadline of the ’19 Emmy Awards.
I’ll just keep hoping the pilot is good enough earn a season order. If they can get it filmed around the same time as GoT is airing, and they do get a “GO,” then by this time next year they could be well into additional casting and other pre-production stuff to follow.
I would think it would start towards the end of April so that the conclusion falls in the May sweeps period
Jejeje señores, lo dijeron bien claro, producción al mismo tiempo de emisión de la temporada 8… es decir, fecha de estreno entre FINALES DE ENERO- principios de FEBRERO 2019
No surprise, but nice to have confirmation! I can simultaneously look forward to AND dread its approach. 😆
So happy we’ve got news! I expect it will be April. So good it won’t be during summer. Even if I finally didn’t, last year I felt like cancelling my vacation. Pleasant surprise, the hotel had great wifi.
Agreed. It would still qualify for the 2019 Emmy’s if it aired in early May. But even if it did air late May/June, it could just skip the ’19 Emmy’s and have a big presence in 2020 ala Season 7. We’ll see how much skipping an Emmy’s cycle hurts them this time around. I honestly think the only Emmy they might win this year is for Lena or Diana. I think Handmaid’s will win Drama again (they are huge frontrunners in some expert polls I’ve seen) and I think having 2 nominations for directing will hurt them with the split votes.
I think they will stall til 7/7
You mean ‘other than Creative Arts Emmys.’ They’ll clean house again with those.
I think it will be in end of March… but I wildly hope it will be February. Maybe they will finish post earlier than schedule? I can dream!
Yeah definitely. I meant Primetime Emmy’s.
am soo ready .. and also sad same time .. i think it will air on march or april as was before… the end is coming
I also read that Goldmans prequel is the only prequel that will be produced. The other 4 have been scrapped apparently, at least for now.
Dee Stark,
My bet, GoT will not air until after March Madness. Maybe the weekend of Final Four (since Sunday is an off day). Just my thought, they will want undivided attention for the premier.
As an aside, I also believe that is when the next book will be released as well. I think there are significant reveals, and for suspense, they do not want spoilers released before S8.
Jack Bauer 24,
What’s the last date it has to start for the 2019 Emmy’s?
Since there are only six episodes, April 21st.
Well, whatever the month, it means that by this time next year, GoT will already be over. FOREVER. Excuse me, I need to go and cry out loud for a mo…
A show has to broadcast at least half of its episodes to be eligible before the cutoff date, which is May 31st so they could begin airing May 12th and air 3 episodes before the cutoff.
A show has to broadcast at least half of its episodes to be eligible before the cutoff date, which is May 31st so they could begin airing May 12th and air 3 episodes before the cutoff.
To expand on having “only six episodes” –
In the eligibility rules to initially qualify as a series the show has to have six or more episodes in the season and at least six air by the end of the Emmy season (May 31st). For this final season of GoT it appears that one specific rule pertains:
Being the final season I would think would be considered as “discontinued” so all six episodes would have to air prior to May 31st to qualify in ’19.
Jack Bauer 24,
No, it depends on the length of the show’s season as well if you read the eligibility rules. See my post above.
My prediction season start 17-2-2019. That way the final episode will be 24-3-2019. Every episode will be aired in winter and the last episode will be aired in spring.
Wasn’t there a report that D&D decided this time when the season would air? If it’s their choice I think it will air in winter.
And why did I though about this scene when I read this post:
“And now it begins”
“No, now it ends”
We all wait for the last season, but when it starts, soon it will be over.
Thanks for the clarification.
Clob,
(In Olenna’s voice) Good.
Source ?
https://deadline.com/2018/07/game-of-thrones-prequel-hbo-tca-1202433187/
It’s great to finally have confirmation on this! The absolute earliest I could see the final season premiering would be mid-February – I definitely don’t expect HBO to start airing it until after the Super Bowl. I’m personally expecting a traditional April premiere, so they can maximize their time for post-production work and still air all six episodes before the May 31st eligibility cutoff for the Emmys. But if it turns out to be earlier than that and we get the premiere in March, fantastic!
Regardless, we’re 9 months away at most! 🙂
IMO. First football season needs to end; second March Madness needs to end (final match up 4/8); no conflicts with either of the Walking Dud, oops I mean Walking Dead shows. I know that I am basing this on US programing mainly. Earliest date: 4/7 or any Sunday after that.
Dee Stark,
I moved it since it seemed to be more appropriate here. You posted it just before I published this.
Clob,
We knew they were only doing Goldman’s prequel for now, and that one had been definitely scrapped, perhaps more. So this isn’t really news, though it’s good to have Bloys reiterating it.
Luka Nieto,
Maybe if he says it enough and emphasizes it we won’t have people trying to pass off “news” of production on another one. 😉
HBO likes to promote new seasons of Game of Thrones with American Baseball which starts in late Feburary for spring training and then officially starts around April 1st.
I think season 8 will premiere any Sunday between April 7th and May 12th 2019 at the very latest.
https://twitter.com/JamesHibberd/status/1022225130272030721
More from Bloys. Says episodes will NOT be 2 hours and he’s not sure when a trailer will be released bit when asked if it would be this year he said “I would guess so, but I don’t know.”
Six two hour episodes? Where did that come from? However am curious there are no real constraints on episodes being any length on HBO . My speculation is that no episode will be less than an hour , hoping for 90 min.
Clob,
• So wait. All six episodes of S8 must air before May 31. 2019 for the show to be eligible for the 2019 Emmy Awards, right?
Six episodes in a span of five weeks if aired weekly. If aired on Sunday night, that would mean the latest episode schedule would be:
Ep 1: April 21, 2019
Ep 2: April 28, 2019
Ep 3: May 5, 2019
Ep 4: May 12, 2019
Ep 5: May 19, 2019
Ep 6: May 26, 2019
• For me, five weeks is way too quick. I would’ve preferred that S8 air an episode every two weeks. (I ask that nobody hate me or call me an idiot for even suggesting this, considering the already-lengthy hiatus between S7 and S8.)
That Emmy eligibility window pretty much put an end to my harebrained proposal anyway. On a two-week staggered schedule, I think Ep 1 would have to air March 17, 2019 for the show to finish by Sunday, May 26, 2019.
Damn. Those five weeks are going to fly by…
Clob,
F*ck the prequel. F*vk the Super Bowl. F*ck baseball. I want to see a Saturday morning Arya & the Hound cartoon show.
The smartest thing to do would be to begin the season the Sunday after the super bowl! Dead of winter, everyone is home, transition right from football Sunday’s to thrones Sunday’s!
I think 6 2-hour episodes is just the wishful thinking rumour mill spinning its wheels. Although I’m definitely hoping none will be less than an hour, and I wouldn’t rule out at least one of the big episodes of the season (perhaps the penultimate one or even the finale) will be ~2 hours or so.
In any case, good to hear a release window (even if the window is technically 6 months :)). I share the belief that HBO would want GoT to be eligible for the 2019 Emmys, so an April 21 start at the latest seems reasonable.
Hibberd said he’s heard they will be between 50-90 minutes.
Oh yeah!!! Great news! Can’t wait till it starts (sigh, but then it has to end….)
I have to admit I’m really disappointed that it appears the whole Doom of Valyria spin-off is not happening anytime soon and it’s ‘The Long Night’ one they’re going with. Gosh, that one just does not interest me at all. Of course, I’ll check it out, but I just have zero interest in it beyond OK, Game of Thrones related, but the story itself? Total and complete meh.
On the other hand, so excited about having a rough release date for our final season and I’m happy it’s sooner rather than later. YAY!!!!
What! new casting director for prequel, it’s Nina Gold or bust.
Well, I KNEW it was absolutely gonna air in the first half, and that March/April was most likely for the premiere…but Jan/Feb’s worth praying for because why not…still nice to hear officially. =] And I’m not sure how they can wrap up everything that needs to happen if the mere SIX episodes AREN’T about two hours each, but…maybe it’s that magic time-compression power of theirs…I suppose an hour and a half each could be sufficient…xp
I’m also much more interested in the Valyrian prequel than the Long Night one, but I’ll take what I can get once the original is over. ;.;
Luka Nieto,
ahhh that make sense
Thanks 🙂
I didn’t know you could do that LOL
Jack Bauer 24,
No one ever said the episodes would be 2 hours. I don’t know why Hibberd insists so much on “debunking” something nobody reported.
• That’s the spirit! Prejudge and dismiss without waiting for a single episode to be produced!
I think way upthread in comments under this article or a recent one, I confessed to avoiding GoT at first because it sounded dumb; and all I saw once while channel surfing was 5-10 seconds of two guys in ragged clothes sitting next to some rocks in the middle of a field, talking. [The guys, not the rocks.] Based on that brief snippet, I concluded “looks boring; I’ll pass”, and clicked the remote.
As Lord Glover said: “A man can only admit when he was wrong, and ask forgiveness.”
•As for “the story itself”[of the Long Night] being “total and complete meh”: How do you know?????
Coming soon: Tinfoil theory that there never was a “Long Night” – at least not the way the in-universe characters heard the handed-down story.
#WWADL
(White Walker Anti-Defamation League)
Because knocking down a straw man creates “news” when there is no news.
Ten Bears,
If all the season 8 episodes don’t have to be shown before June 1st 2019 to qualify for the 2019 Emmys. HBO might want to start Season 8 Sunday April 28th, then show Episodes 2 – 5 in May and then wait two weeks to show the final Episode of Game of Thrones Sunday June 9th 2019.
The Penultimate Season 8 Episode 5 could be the longest and most EPIC Game of Thrones episode. Waiting two weeks for the final episode could get the fever pitch hype going insane for the Final Episode of Game of Thrones.
Also HBO needs subscribers and stretching season 8 to three months would make HBO more money.
I personally think the Age of Heroes and the long night offers much more interesting material, as well as having more that ties it into GoT. There just isn’t a lot to the Doom of Valyria, and pretty much nothing to make it feel like the same world as GoT since the only family that would have left over a decade before, the Targaryens. Not to mention that a Valyrian story ends in “doom” so it would essentially be like the Pompeii movie that Kit was in.
Dee Stark,
They should air the premiere it new years week.
420?
firstone,
I’m confused by the eligibility rules. I thought ALL six episodes must air before 6/1/19.
However, I do like your idea to wait two weeks between Ep 5 and Ep 6. I think the NFL waits two or three weeks between the conference finals and the Super Bowl. GoT should do the same.
GoT S8e6 will be more momentous than any Super Bowl.*
* (Besides, I gave up on pro football a long time ago. Ever since the Miami Dolphins descended into perpetual mediocrity and the New England Patriots started winning the division every year.)
Ten Bears,
I would prefer the same, or at least one break in between (after episode 3). 5 weeks is too short. And I think people can talk 2 weeks about some events that will happen.
Luka Nieto,
Do you think every episode will be max 90 minutes or that one (5 or 6) will be longer? I hope the last one will be 2 hours.
But still you can do a lot in 90 minutes. The americans had a season final of 68 minutes and it was perfect. Same for some other shows.
Depends, I think the long night will feel to much like GoT. It was already established that the White Walkers are involved, the Starks. They can do a lot with it but I think it will feel the same, Starks against WW. And it’s the same continent that we saw for 8 seasons (Valeria only one episode). I think people will felt like GoT will repeat with this show. Fans like us will probably watched it to expend the universe, but the question is, will the casual viewers be interested. I talked a lot with friends (Who watch GoT) about the spin-offs, no one was really excited about the Long Night spin-off, but most of them would love to see the Valeria story.
About Valeria: This show could be on for at least 5 seasons. And what’s excited for me with this story is the following: The Targs history is in Valeria so they are in the story, but they are not one of the important families of the story, they were one of the smaller ones. Means a big part of the story will not involve them only mentioned them, but with the Long night it is about the starks.
It could be a show like Rome combined Vikings with some magic etc. We could explore the taming of dragons, the magic that leads to the doom, the doom itself, slaves that escape that will make the city of braavos. Maybe even conquering Westeros.
Don’t care about how many minutes each episode will be. My favorite episode in season 7 was the shortest (The Spoils of War). I just want them to be good and use every last minute to it’s fullest potential.
March 31st. Start the pool.
kevin1989,
All I know is that in-season, the Comments sections explode with interesting commentary and discussion. Each episode contains enough fodder for weeks of discussion, eg details I overlooked and theories I hadn’t considered. I look forward to reading other commenters’ observations. It enhances my enjoyment of the show.
With only six episodes spanning 5 weeks, I fear there won’t be time to digest and analyze an episode before the next one airs, and then before you know it..the series will be OVER.
Then again. my philosophy of life has always been to relish the anticipation of something enjoyable. That’s why my favorite time of the week in-season is the twenty minutes before an episode airs on Sunday night.
Mr Derp,
S7e4 was my favorite S7 episode too. The 3-4 minutes of cleaned-up Arya entering the WF courtyard, twirling her dagger, sparring with Brienne, and executing that hand-to-hand dagger flip was probably the highlight of the season for me. The breathless last 15-20 minutes (Field of Fire 2,0) was icing on the cake.
Where did I prejudge or dismiss the actual show?
I flat-out said that I would be watching the show. I merely said that based on the concept–which is ALL I HAVE TO GO ON–I am not interested in that. I’m not judging the product, merely the concept –which we know full and good well what it is about–and I’m not interested in the story of The Long Night based on the concept as presented thus far. I’m not dismissing it, if I was, I wouldn’t be planning on watching it.
Geez! When there is more information on it beyond JUST A CONCEPT, then maybe throw this kind of judgmental attitude at someone. But going at someone who offers up an opinion on the concept even when they’ve stated they are planning on watching the show still? Really?! Wow!
JenniferH,
Well, you wrote: “…it’s ‘The Long Night’ one they’re going with. Gosh, that one just does not interest me at all. Of course, I’ll check it out, but I just have zero interest in it beyond OK, Game of Thrones related, but the story itself? Total and complete meh.”
Describing the “story itself” as “total and complete meh” sounded a bit dismissive.
But you know what? I apologize if I misconstrued your intent, I’d be the last one to want to dissuade you from expressing your opinion, considering all the tinfoil theories and Arya-centric comments I’ve posted.
So sorry. 😕
Happy birthday, Nikolaj, always our Jaime! Be brave, be honourable, mesmerize us fans with your presence!
Ten Bears,
Same here, some people are going mad somethings how much I talk about TV-shows and talking about what I think will happen next. Even now I talk a lot about GoT. but 5 weeks is too short, that was I think one of the problems in season 7 that once people were in the GoT-flow (don’t know a better word for it) we were almost done with the season.
With Sherlock it is even worst, we get one season every 2 years, containing only 3 episodes. 2 weeks later it’s done. (luckily it’s 90 min each episode but still)
And I love overanalyzing a show, I remember when Lost was on tv and I wrote down my predictions and my connections etc
about runtime: For me episode 7 wins over episode 4, but just a little, runtime doesn’t say anything about quality. For me it all depends that they take their time that’s needed and not a second more. And that’s what they thought about in those 2 episode. Episode 4 shouldn’t have one scene more, and episode 7 not one scene less. That why I didn’t put episode 6 as the best episode of the season, not because of the time skip problem (I can overlook that), but because the last part felt like it should have been in another episode. For me the boat scene should have been in another episode.
I always felt like they should have done 8 episodes. Episode 5 and 6 only containing Dany/Jon story. With episode 7 focusing on the Sam/Winterfell scenes with a couple of scenes that happened after Jon felt in the water.
Ten Bears,
I’m someone who gets very annoyed with people attacking, dismissing, pre-judging shows before they’ve been aired and not giving them a chance so I took your comments to me rather personally.
A person can only have interest in a show based on the concept until more comes out. Right now, the concept doesn’t personally interest me, but I always withhold judgment on the show itself until I give the actual product a chance.
I appreciate you taking my words into account. It’s never fun being at odds with a fellow Arya-fan!
Thinking about Emmys. I really hope Nicolaj Coster Waldau and Lena Heady get the recognition they deserve. Last season in particular, I thought just NCW shined. His scenes with Cersei and Olenna were brilliant. And Lena? What can you say about her? she’s been consistently brilliant for 7 seasons.
I’m hoping April for the premiere.
Ten Bears,
Completely agree! I’ve said several times before that besides the show itself, I will dearly miss the anticipation, discussions, reactions, analyses, etc. that accompany new episodes.
I think taking at least one break in season 8 is actually a pretty good idea, stretching the season out to at least 6 weeks. Perhaps between episodes 3 & 4 so it’s kind of like a mid-season break? That makes a little more sense to me than an extra week between 5 & 6.
GoT used to take a week off in its first few seasons on Memorial Day. I believe it used to happen around episode 7 or 8 depending on when the season started, so there is precedent for this.
A shocking thought (and bloody depressing, too).
I understand it’s only the pilot, right? Therefore 5 months filming and post, then the exec’s are shown it in fall. Like GoT they either yeah or nay or ask for reshoots and/or casting changes. Which means the entire first season films in 2020 for a 2021 premiere. Does this sound right to you experts in production?
Although it’s not mentioned in the above article he also confirmed (pretty much) that we will get the full trailer for S8 before the end of the year.
My guess from here on in is we get a teaser in the next few weeks confirming either Spring 2019 or March/April but no specific dates. We then get a full trailer with footage November/December time and a 2nd one in Jan/Feb.
Jon Snowed,
I think HBO will be show a major season 8 tease With the Doors song “The End” at the end of Summer/beginning of Fall … September 21 2018
The first Season 8 trailer will be shown at the end of Fall/Beginning of Winter … December 21 2018 – HBO will promoting all their 2019 shows in late December and Game of Thrones is the KING of HBO shows!
Ramin Djawadi won’t start working on the new soundtrack until late October or November so it could be a few more months to wait for the Season trailer.
Yes that makes total sense particularly about the year end review/preview but I am hoping for a full trailer before we get there possibly as early as October/November. That said, if Ramin is not working on the music until then a December full trailer probably makes the most sense (it would also very likely be 3-4 months in advance of the air date).
Both Kim Renfro and James Hibberd have stated several times that a March/April premiere is the most likely Jack. Those two are the best GOT journalists out there and will have some background knowledge and contacts within HBO & GOT production. One of the crew also posted something regarding about GOT airing in April.
I suspect at the moment they are looking at slots around that time period but allowing some flexibility to change to ensure best ratings etc.
I also think end of March is the most likely so we wrap end of April or start of May 2019. I really hope it fits as I am looking to book a family holiday in May and don’t want to miss GOT especially the concluding episodes and have them spoiled for me.
We are well past winds of winter now, I honestly cannot see how the book has anything to do with the final season airing. I cannot believe there will be spoilers in Winds that haven’t been covered by the show – at least not impacting major characters.
I don’t know the usual process and timing for an HBO pilot schedule. Five months sounds a bit long to me though when it’s one episode for the purpose of getting a season order from HBO. The filming of the pilot itself should only take a few weeks. D&D did the filming of their “shitty pilot” in a few weeks that ended in mid November ’09, and even with all of the issues it had there was news it had been greenlit for series already by late February ’10.
When (and if) this prequel gets a series order the schedule for that is the bigger question. D&D had been working on GoT for over four years when they started filming season one. They also had a huge advantage in that they were adapting a story that had been written already. GoT premiered just a little over one year from when they were given the “Go.” Is it reasonable to expect a series with a fresh script that has to also try to shine in the shadow of GoT actually premiere that quickly? My guess would be no, so even if 2021 does sound like a conservative guess it might be the most likely.
Jon Snowed,
My guess is D&D will use the Winds of Winter book for 5 more episodes before finishing the series with one episode of A Dream of Spring.
The Winds of Winter book will probably have lots of battles and war with the Night King and Golden Company and Season 8 will probably have lots of battles…. etc…
Jon Snowed,
Don’t expect any new teaser or trailer for season 8 before Mid december, because post-production this year will be looong, since filming only ended at the end of June. Season 8 will most likely start in April, and is what makes the most sense. And also all other seasons started in April too, with the exception of season 7.
So, April – May for sure.
NCW and LH have no chance this year, against the Handmaid’s Tale cast. lol. They will win A LOT this year. Maybe Lena will have more chance in season 8, since is the last season, and Emmy voters always takes that in important consideration.
Also, i dont agree about NCW shining this year. His better work was without a doubt in season 3. That was the season that Jaime had the best scenes and he deserved a nomination in tha moment. For season 7, i think Diana Rigg for sure deserved a nomination. She was incredible as always and Olenna’s goodbye scene was iconic.
But that makes no sense Firstone as the show already showed most of the big moments from Winds in S5 (Shireen, Stannis defeat) and S6 (Jon KitN, Battle of Meereen, Hodor death). I am not saying Winds will be exactly the same but we definitely got the broad strokes. Remember D&D got all the main character arcs from GRRM they know what is coming at least broadly for all major characters.
I hear you but post production has been going for ages, it didn’t just start recently, for example we know the Winterfell set concluded back in March/April so they will have been working on that for several months now. We also know quite a few of the cast had finished filming already in May. Therefore I hope for a full trailer towards the end of the year for sure.
Jon Snowed,
Good Conversation JS but Winter didn’t officially start on the show until the white doves were sent from the Citidel in season 6. In Season 6 Episode 10 Sansa “Winter is Coming” Stark told Jon Snow “Winter is Here”. It has taken 6 full seasons for Winter to arrive so I think D&D will use the book The Winds of Winter for as many episodes as possible before A Dream of Spring.
Season 7 episode 1 Arya Stark demonstrated that “Winter has come for House Frey”… The Night King and his army of wights just broke through the Wall in the final scene of Season 7. It just started snowing in Kings Landing in the final season 7 episode. Winter is coming to Westeros in season 8 aka: The Winds of Winter
That’s why I think Game of Thrones has another 5 episodes of The winds of winter coming in 2019 – The final episode of Game of Thrones directed by D&D will be a Dream of Spring – Time will tell… It’s all good… Cheers!
Ah yes I understand where you are coming from now:) Interesting and good rationale. I think in general D&D got a lot more information on Winds from GRRM (given that a number of chapters from ADWD were held back for Winds and he had written a decent chunk even at S5) and I strongly suspect they don’t have a lot to go on from ADOS other than the main ending and a few big twists so it would make sense.
Wasn’t there way more that came out of this. Why haven’t you guys talked about the 4 prequels that got cut?
Clob,
Yea, I have no idea how these guys overlooked all of that.