Game of Thrones is only a week away from wrapping up its 7th season. The 8th season is said to be the last season of the HBO TV series, and it will also be the shortest ever, as the show creators have said it will only be six episodes long.

Plus, it has been rumored that the last season won’t be premiered until 2019, leaving a two-year gap before fans can figure out what is going to happen to their beloved characters –if they haven’t been killed by the season finale next week.

Image Credit: HBO / Variety
Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke. Image Credit: HBO / Variety

Now, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau –Jaime Lannister in the show—has confirmed that the production for the final season won’t begin until October in an interview with Collider. Usually, production begins around mid-summer and shoots until the end of the year. For the 7th season, however, filming began in September.

Final Game of Thrones season will start shooting in October

The later-than-usual schedule could point to the fact that the show could be premiered in 2019 and not next year. Producing the final season of a hit series like Game of Thrones is certainly something that takes time, patience, and money.

But, despite Coster-Waldau’s remarks, it appears as if pre-production has already begun. Winter Is Coming reports that one fan noticed activity on the exterior set for Winterfell in Moneyglass, Northern Ireland. Twitter username Cathair96 posted a picture that shows some construction work being done on the set, which could mean they are getting ready to shoot.

There have been rumors that the episodes on the final season will be longer than usual, although HBO or the producers haven’t confirmed so. It seems likely, though, as we have already seen lengthier episodes this season. The series finale next week will reportedly last more than 80 minutes.

Coster-Waldau also said the actors have not yet received their final scripts for the season. HBO and the show’s producers will have to tighten security measures if they wish to avoid any leaks of the final season. This season, several episodes have been leaked online by hackers. Also, when the show was being shot months ago, several leaked pictures also “spoiled” some events that took place in the series.

Martin is working on 5 Game of Thrones spin-off shows

ABC News reports that screenwriter Jane Goldman could be writing one –or several—prequels of Game of Thrones, as several rumors point out. Goldman admitted she’s met several times with Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin to discuss the potential prequel of the show.

“I think I can comfortably say because George did mention this in his blog that, yeah, I’ve had the pleasure of going to spend some time with him and working on things and talking about ideas, and that was an honor and a pleasure,” she said, according to ABC News. “He’s a great guy and we’ve had enormous fun talking about ideas and characters and all sorts of interesting things.”

Martin had said on his blog back in May that he had been involved in creating “successor” shows for HBO and added that they’ve worked in five different scripts.

“I can’t tell you what the shows will be about (well, I could, but I won’t), but I will tell you a couple of things they WON’T be. Which will disappoint some of you, sure, but better to do that now than later, I think,” he wrote.

He added they wouldn’t be doing a series about Dunk & Egg, nor about Robert Baratheon’s Rebellion. Only time will tell which stories will make the cut.

Source: ABC News