Game of Thrones cast members reportedly sign on for Season 8
By Ani Bundel
In our latest concrete sign that Game of Thrones will run until 2018, Deadline is reporting that its heard that the cast has signed on for an eighth season. And not only that, but the main cast members who have signed on to stay will receive “major new salary bumps” when they arrive. Warning: Deadline lists the names of the actors who have signed on, which means their characters will survive at least through the Season 6 finale.
"…mainstays Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) will all be paid north of $500,000 an episode for Season 7, which has been officially picked up, and Season 8, which is widely expected. HBO has not specified the size of the order for Season 7, but speculation has been that both Season 7 and Season 8 would be shorter than the standard for the show 10 episodes, possibly seven episodes (Season 7) and six episodes (Season 8)."
As Deadline goes on to note, just because these five have signed on does not guarantee that their characters will live through to the end of the show. The Game of Thrones contract is structured so that everyone signs on to continue, and they only find out later if they make it all the way to the end. This is just one of the ways the shows keeps spoilers under wraps. Also, just because they’re not listed here does not mean that the likes of Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and other favorites won’t survive.
HBO had been pushing since the upfronts last summer for the show to go two more seasons, but as Deadline reports, they likely won’t be full seasons. At a rumored seven and six episodes each, the final two seasons of Game of Thrones may be more like the final seasons of shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and end up being more like “Season 7A” and “Season 7B.”
When Game of Thrones was renewed for next year, the press release avoided calling it “Season 7,” stating only that it would return for 2017. And director Jack Bender stated in an interview that he was under the impression that next year would only be seven episodes long.