Game of Thrones season 7 is over but when will season 8 premiere? Having been spoiled with the 6 seasons that had 10 episodes each, the seventh was (so far) the shortest season of Game of Thrones.
NOTE: The rest of this post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Game of Thrones season 7.
Though it had just seven episodes to its name, the penultimate season of Game of Thrones packed a powerful punch. Jon Snow will henceforth be known as Aegon Targaryen, he and (his aunt…) Daenerys Targaryen are utterly besotted with one another, The Wall didn’t do its job, and the Night King and his Army of the Dead are now official invaders in Westeros.
Needless to say, season 7 successfully set up the series finale. Season 8 is coming. Like the White Walkers, however, it’s going to take a long time to get here.
Though little is known about the end of the series, given that the TV show has been off-book for while now, several cast members revealed that they’ll begin shooting in October of this year. Given the frigid climate in the series, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are clearly angling to capture season 8 amidst colder weather. After filming in August of 2016 proved too balmy for their needs, Benioff and Weiss were forced to extend shooting of season 7 into February of 2017 - so they literally could “wait for the leaves to fall off [the trees].” This ultimately led them to postpone the premiere of season 7 several months later than planned.
Season 8 should take at least six months to complete, especially considering the ambitious post production-heavy episodes Benioff and Weiss have planned. Though it will only possess six episodes this time around, several of are expected to contain runtimes of nearly 120 minutes. The seventh season finale clocked in at around 82 minutes, and given the amount of storylines that will need to be resolved next season, we wouldn’t bet against a two-hour series finale.
While many will complain about the truncated seasons for Game of Thrones, in which the showrunners are now sprinting toward their end game, it’s hard to be too bitter when each episode plays out like a feature film.
RELATED: Why is Game of Thrones Season 7 Moving So Fast?
Though the eighth season premiere has no official date, expect for it to debut towards the end of 2018. If all goes well for the show and they wrap shooting in March or April 2018, a solid six months of post-production should place the premiere sometime around September or October. Given the amount of battle sequences and CGI expected in the series finale, however, both production and post-production could take longer than expected - and push the Game of Thrones series finale into early 2019.
As for the writer’s room, only Game of Thrones alums need apply. Dave Hill, who has been with the show since 2012, has allegedly already produced a script for the season premiere. Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman (“Stormborn,” “Oathkeeper,” “What Is Dead May Never Die”) has written the script for episode two. For the final four episodes, Benioff and Weiss will collaborate and close out the series they adapted from the mind of George R. R. Martin.
As the inevitable season 8 production spoilers head our way, expect to also hear more rumblings about HBO’s multiple planned spinoffs for Game of Thrones. While Jon Snow’s journey may be coming to an end, it appears the tales of Westeros are only just getting started.