Details about Game of Thrones season eight are on drone-destroying lockdown, but HBO has made it official that it’s the show’s final season, and it’s only six episodes long. Nearly everything else is a complete unknown (like a rolling Stone Men), including how long said episodes will be. Every so often, though, a cast member will reveal more than they’re probably supposed to. For instance, while discussing season eight with the Daily Express, actor Iain Glen, who plays Jorah Mormont, called the final scripts “really special” and said that the cast “sat down for the read-through of six feature-length episodes.”
No wonder it took 55 nights to film a single battle scene:
“They took longer to film, cost more, and are more surprising. It was very emotional… Game of Thrones will stick with us all forever and we were very lucky to have been a part of the show. The reality won’t sink in until it comes to next year when we should be filming, but we’re not.” (Via)
Glen’s comments are in line with what sound designer Paula Fairfield said at Con of Thrones last year (EW has heard that “some episodes may be longer than usual,” which is HBO playing coy). Anyway, the season seven finale clocked in at nearly 80 minutes, so next season might equal six finales, which is either exhausting or exhilarating, depending on your feelings for super-sized episodes. It’s probably the closest we’ll ever come to a full-blown Game of Thrones movie.
(Via Daily Express)