Days after the San Diego Comic-Con 2016 concluded, HBO confirmed that ‘Game of Thrones’ will finally end with season eight.
During the network’s exec session at the Television Critics Association summer press tour last July 30, HBO’s new programming president Casey Bloys opened up to Entertainment Weekly about supporting ‘Game of Thrones’ showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ plan of finishing the award-winning series with its eighth season.
"They have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do," Bloys explained. "Believe me, as the new [programming executive] coming in, if I could get them to do more, I would take 10 more seasons. But we take their lead on what they think they can do the best version of the show."
Last April, Benioff and Weiss spoke to Variety and shared their plans of possibly ending the fantasy drama with an eighth installment comprised of six episodes. However, Bloys did not yet confirm the exact number of episode order for the season eight.
He did reveal that discussions for a ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoff’ are expected to be carried out, hence the possibility of the Westeros kingdoms returning to the small screen after the hit fantasy drama ends.
"We've talked about it," he said. "It's something I'm not opposed to, but of course it has to make sense creatively. I'm not sure that [Benioff and Weiss] could really wrap their heads around it when they're just about to start production [on season 7]. It's a pretty intense production, they're about to start production soon.”
Although Bloys admitted that he was interested in such plans and acknowledged the showrunners’ receptiveness to the spinoff idea, he said there has been “no concrete plan for it at this point.”
Bloys responded to the disapproval of certain audiences over the portrayal of sexual violence against women in ‘Game of Thrones’ as well as other HBO shows, expressing his belief that violence had been “spread equally” between genders.
In terms of raking in awards, the delayed premiere of ‘Game of Thrones’ seasons seven puts the HBO drama at a less advantageous position for the 2017 Emmy awards, but Bloys is not worried.
"[Awards] are not our main goal. The main goal is to do the best show for our subscribers and fans," he assured the show’s audience. "[The Emmy fallout] is just something we have to live with."
This year, however, ‘Game of Thrones’ dominates the TV landscape after earning 23 nods for the Emmy awards. These include nominations for outstanding drama series, which the fantast drama won in 2015. The show had set a new record after bagging a total of 12 awards last year.
Meanwhile, the upcoming season of ‘Game of Thrones’ is set to begin filming in Northern Ireland in the next few weeks.
Comprised of seven episodes, ‘Game of Thrones’ season seven will make its premiere in the summer of 2017.
