Game of Thrones bosses shocked fans with the announcement that the hit series would be capped at 73 hours, with seven episodes in this year and just six in the final season come 2018.
But HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys has now revealed to Entertainment Weekly that the number of episodes in season 8 has yet to be decided.
Bloys told EW: “They’re still figuring out the shape of the season, what they want to do. I’ll take as many as they want to do. If they give me eight, I’ll want 10. But it’s really up to them. They’ll let me know.”
Fans have been stressing over the award-winning series’ inevitable conclusion and are keen to stretch out the legacy of the show.
HBO are currently talking to Game of Thrones writers about a possible prequel series. Bloys said: “It’s such a big property we would be foolish not to explore it, but it’s a pretty high bar,” he said. “We’ll take some shots at it. I’m not going to do it just to do it. It has to feel very special. I would rather have no sequel and leave it as-is then have something we rushed out.
“A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it [than a spin-off]…[Author George R.R. Martin’s history of Westeros] gives you areas in which to say to a writer, ‘If you were going to do this, then go flesh it out,’ and we’ll see what comes back. But I don’t feel any pressure that we have to have something.”
Thrones cast members have just finishing shooting wintery scenes in Iceland in preparation for season 7 airing this summer, a little later than the usual spring release.
Last year, Thrones broke HBO rating records yet again with episodes averaging more than 23 million viewers, including streaming, repeats, and DVR playback.
In Throne Watch’s opinion, you can never have enough Game of Thrones.
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