Way back in 2008 when HBO first ordered Game of Thrones, before it became a ratings juggernaut and cultural phenomenon, and before cast members like Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke became household names and beloved figures online, the network signed all the actors and actresses to six-year deals. The show is currently filming its fifth season, with a sixth already greenlit and a seventh all but guaranteed. But wait, if the show is set to plow right through into Season 7 (and possibly beyond), and the now-famous cast is only signed through Season 6… [begins furiously sliding beans around on abacus]… Well well well, it looks like some people are due for a raise.
And a raise they got. A big raise, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lannister money.
The principal Thrones actors, who were signed only through six seasons of the show, have completed an extensive renegotiation of their contracts that includes an option for season 7, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In exchange for the option, HBO has ponied up huge raises for seasons 5, 6 and the potential season 7 that will make the cast members among the highest paid on cable TV.
There’s no official word on the exact dollar amounts at play here, but the raises apparently separate the main cast into tiers. Tier A — including Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, and Kit Harington — will be paid the most, while the people in Tier B — which reportedly includes Natalie Dormer, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams, among others — and another lower tier will shuffle in at somewhat lower figures. (UPDATE: Deadline reports the Tier A stars will receive $300,000 per episode.)
Assuming everything in the THR report is accurate, this all raises a few questions:
- How the hell did Arya Stark get hosed out of Tier A?
- Where did Aidan Gillan, aka Littlefinger, come in? Because you could make a good argument for either tier, says me, who hasn’t read the books and may not know what he is talking about as it relates to future seasons.
- Spoilerz, but how pissed do Charles Dance and Jack Gleeson have to be right now? Prior to Season 4 they would have been prime candidates for that Tier A money. Now, bupkis. I’d never stop screaming.
- WHAT TIER IS SER POUNCE IN?
Tier A or we riot.
