The Television Critics Association summer press tour took place today, which means there’s tons of television news coming out of California this evening. HBO president Michael Lombardo dropped one of the most eye-raising bits of info: their flagship show “Game Of Thrones” is looking to close up shop after season eight.
According to Lombardo, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are “feeling like there’s probably two more years after [season] six.” The HBO president admitted he would “love for them to change their minds, but that’s what we’re looking at right now.” Previously, the HBO chief said he’d hoped the show would run at least a decade. This certainly makes sense as eight years, plus development, is a long time to do one project. Benioff and Weiss have earned the clout to do anything they want, and could pull off some big feature film work if they aspired to.
READ MORE: 14 Minutes Of Featurettes Explore Game Of Thrones Season 5 Finale
Asked about the possibilities of spin-offs or prequels, Lombardo said, “I would be open to anything David and Dan want to do … there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel.” But to be clear, he noted there have been no conversations about an offshoot for ‘Thrones’ yet, since “the focus is on figuring out the next few years of this show.” Translation: this is a huge moneymaker for us and we’ll do anything to keep that revenue stream flowing.
“Game Of Thrones” is currently shooting season six. Despite all your hopes and dreams Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington will not be back because the character is dead. [Deadline]
