The final season of Game Of Thrones’ is set to debut in the ‘first half’ of next year, according to Casey Bloys, HBO’s programming president.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer event on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California, he adeptly avoided confirming any more about the highly-anticipated eighth season of the hit fantasy show.
But, speaking to Deadline, he said of the upcoming prequel, currently using the working title The Long Night, that: ‘There are very strong female characters but it’s an ensembles, there is men and women.’
Waiting: Game Of Thrones’ final season set to premiere in ‘first half’ of 2019… as HBO executive also confirmed on Wednesday that production on its spin-off will NOT begin til next year
Discussing the show further, Bloys added: ‘Jane [Goldman, the prequel’s scriptwriter] is a very good writer, we don’t want to limit her to writing female leads. There are a lot of very complicated leads in [the pilot].’
Of writing the new series, he noted that Goldman ‘did not go into that wanting to answer anything about Game of Thrones; it was the story that spoke to her.’
The Kingsman writer’s script was selected against four other scripts written by top scribes in the industry, and it was green-lit by HBO last month.
Group effort: But he said of the upcoming prequel, currently using the working title The Long Night, that: ‘There are very strong female characters but it’s an ensembles’
Soon: Bloys confirmed the prequel will begin production in 2019, refuting claims that filming would begin in October of this year, as he said: ‘We have to find a director, we have to cast it’
Bloys confirmed that the prequel will begin production in 2019, refuting claims that filming would begin in October of this year, as he said: ‘When I say we’re hoping to go into production in 2019, we have to find a director, we have to cast it.’
HBO have previously described the spin-off as: ‘Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.
‘And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend … it’s not the story we think we know.’
Thousands of years ago: HBO have previously described the spin-off as chronicling ‘the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour’
Changes: He confirmed that the show will ‘feel very different’ to its inspiration, whilst still keeping its essence, as the series is set in a different place and time to the original series
He confirmed that the show will ‘feel very different’ to its inspiration, whilst still keeping its essence, as the series is set in a different place and time to the original series.
As it’s set thousands of years in the past it will likely look at the first appearance of the White Walkers, including the Night King.
Given this, there is no chance that the characters we have grown to love will appear on screen and the only likely contenders to show up will be the White Walkers themselves and the Children Of The Forest.
HBO is currently negotiating with a casting director as it plans on commencing with production in 2019.
Unlikely to appear: As it’s set thousands of years in the past, there is no chance that the characters we have grown to love will make an appearance in the prequel