Game of Thrones season 8 was originally meant to be 3 movies akin to Lord of the Rings trilogy
HBO instead coughed up huge sums for the final six episodes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Game of Thrones’ final season is beginning to feel within reaching distance.
The upcoming batch of episodes should drop within the next six months and will conclude HBO’s flagship series once and for all (until the spin-off prequel series, of course).
Fans have known for some time that, unlike the majority of Game of Thrones seasons which usually consist of 10 episodes, the final will be comprised of just six.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners David Benioff and D B Weiss revealed that the original plan was to release three movies, akin to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for the final season.
“It’s what we’re working towards in a perfect world,” Weiss said. “We end up with an epic fantasy story but with the level of familiarity and investment in the characters that are normally impossible in a two-hour movie.“
Unfortunately, the heads of HBO quickly shot down the idea, deciding to avoid box-office risk and opting to instead serve their paying subscribers. They did, however, promise the duo everything they needed to create “a summer tentpole-size spectacle,” with the final cost of each episode rumoured to be $15 million.
“They put their money where their mouths are — literally stuffed their mouth full of million-dollar bills, which don’t exist anymore,” Weiss said.
In other Game of Thrones news, the first image from the upcoming final season has been released, featuring Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow embracing.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments