There’s been much speculation about when, exactly, the final season ofGame of Thronesstarts filming, but we now finally have some crystal clarity. While the first five seasons of the show were on a pretty regular cycle of shooting from the end of July to December or so, the final two seasons posed unique challenges. For one, they’re comprised of only seven and six episodes, respectively, which is less than the traditional 10-episode seasons. Secondly, the producers said that now that winter ishere, they needed to be shooting when their locations are colder and more winter-like, so for this current season they pushed the start of filming back to the end of August.
That resulted inGame of ThronesSeason 7 premiering in July instead of April of this year, so the curiosity surrounding theGame of ThronesSeason 8 filming date is less about when the final season starts shooting and more about when we’ll actually get to see it. But when Collider’s own Christina Radish spoke with starNikolaj Coster-Waldauin anticipation of his new filmShot Caller, Jaime Lannister himself revealed that he’s due to report back to theGame of Thronessets one last time in October:
“I knew what was going to happen for the first three seasons. After that, it’s been a season at a time. You get the scripts a month before we start shooting, or six weeks, and then you know what’s going to happen that season. But, I don’t know what’s going to happen next season. We go back in October, so maybe in the next few weeks, we’ll get the scripts and I’ll find out. I’m very curious.”
While Season 7 is comprised of three less episodes than usual, it was actually still in production for the same length of time as the previous 10-episode seasons—a six-month stretch from August 31st to February. So whileGame of ThronesSeason 8 consists of only six episodes, it’s possible it’ll still be filming for five or six months due to the epic scope of these final episodes.
So what does that mean for the Season 8 premiere date? HBO has yet to confirm, and indeed we have no idea how intensive this season will be both in production and post-production, butGame of Throneshas enjoyed its highest ratings yet this season, running in the heart of the summer. If filming begins in October and lasts for six months again, it won’t be wrapped until April 2018. And if post-production is the same length as it was for Season 7, that would put it on track for a September 2018 airdate.
It’s certainly possible HBO sticks with this, givingGame of Thronesits fall drama series slot. Or it’s possible that HBO decides to hold the final season for a more splashy debut sometime in 2019—perhaps the spring or summer. That would be alongwait, but asSopranosfans know, HBO isn’t exactly afraid to shake up the air cycle of its series.
We may not find out theGame of ThronesSeason 8 premiere date for quite some time, but at least now we know when cameras start rolling on those final six episodes.
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