"HBO will have its due."
As is traditional for American TV shows, the original cast contract for Thrones was for six seasons, potentially with an option for a seventh. Hollywood contract law prevents actors from being signed up for longer periods without renegotiations. It was anticipated that such contract negotiations would take place a year or so further down the line, but HBO has clearly taken the line that it wants any possible conflicts resolved earlier, allowing them to greenlight (at least unofficially) a seventh season far ahead of writing and shooting. The move is likely expensive for HBO, as it means the raise takes effect from the fifth season rather than just the seventh, but also may reduce the salary demands that would have come with waiting longer. Several Thrones castmembers are on big movie projects and may have held up for much more substantial raises for the final season if those projects had taken off, such as Emilia Clarke's role as Sarah Connor on the new Terminator movie trilogy (although if it's half as horrible as the plot sounds, maybe HBO jumped the gun a bit here).
No mention is made of an eighth season, which may just mean that it was unofficially discussed but more likely means that Thrones will end after its seventh year. This decision was already made some time ago, although the producers later allowed that an eighth season might still be possible. However, this salary news combined with the news that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are already lining up post-GoT projects and the apparently ruthless disposing of major plot elements in the fifth season from the books (where it appears several entire major storylines and subplots from the novels have been jettisoned in their entirety) to allow a faster wrap-up, all heavily indicate that Game of Thrones will end with the conclusion of its seventh season, in just two and a half years.
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I'm curious to see how many avid fans of the novels will try to avoid the later seasons that will inevitably get ahead of the novels.
I would love to avoid being spoiled by the show. The books mean enough to me that read them all several times, Im addicted to book reader podcasts, and my enthusiasm has prompted several friends to read and/or watch the show. But therein lies the problem, the internet will spoil me anyway, and can't be avoided---the show is too popular at all levels, so I may as well watch it myself.
I'm torn as well. GRRM apparently told them how its gonna end. So they'll most likely film the ending long before we see it in A Dream of Spring. And its not like we can avoid spoilers its the most popular tv show worldwide, you'd need to stay of the interwebs, not watch any tv or read newspapers to avoid the spoilers which will most likely be talked about for a long while after the show itself ends. I don't see any way short of a miracle that well get the last book before GOT ends. Though by the looks of the images that leaked from the set they're already changing things, adding things not present in the books like they somewhat did last season. So we may get the books end but not in its entirety, which is a small consolation, I suppose.
...there is nothing from this action to suggest that Thrones will "definitely end" after seven seasons, instead of eight.
It still could but...this was establishing "it won't end after 6 seasons"...
...if anything, this contract renegotiation is a good sign that we might actually get a season 8 if they can figure out how to placate the actors about their contract pay.
Why are you assuming this is a "confirmed sign" of seven seasons?
8th season? What 8th season? I thought it has been announced that the whole series will end in 7?
The producers and HBO previously said that 7 seasons was the preferred route to go to, then the producers later said that 8 might be possible. But 7 seems to be more likely all around: HBO have never gone to 8 seasons for a drama even with their biggest and most popular shows (GoT is bigger than THE SOPRANOS or TRUE BLOOD, but also a lot more expensive). The showrunners are already lining up post-GoT projects which makes more sense if that's going to be in two years rather than three. And we've seen them take a chainsaw to major book storylines for Season 5 which would not be as necessary if they were looking at eight seasons.
Granted, eight might still be possible, but they would have presumably disclosed that as part of the contact renegotiations.
While I don't think we'll see more than 7 seasons of "Game of Thrones," I wouldn't be surprised at all if that final season is a "split" season with an increased number of episodes spread across two years, yet billed as a single season. The final season of "The Sopranos" had nearly double the number of episodes of any other season. This seems to be a favored new cost-cutting measure with cable television, since they can film close to two seasons worth of episodes without renegotiating contracts.
As for the matter of having the TV show spoil the ending-- that sucks, plain and simple. If I thought it were possible in any way to avoid hearing about the ending, I would absolutely stop watching the show and wait to read the finale in the books. But I just don't see that happening. Who knows how much time will pass between the end of the show and the publication of "A Dream of Spring." Years, possibly. I don't think I'll be able to avoid the internet and social media and human contact for that long!
But it does make me sad and a little angry to know that we'll be getting a lesser version of the ending first. Because as good as the show is, I think all that quality comes directly from the books. Every time the show has deviated from the books in major ways (not simply conversations that could have conceivably taken place "off stage" in the books), I have been very unimpressed with the results. And they've even bungled some of the best characters from the novels (I'm looking at you, TV's Jon Snow and "Yara" Greyjoy).
I guess I'll just keep waiting for the miracle that gets the books done first...
Yup, since they don't have to roll into pre-production on another season afterwards, they have much more flexibility with how they can approach Season 7. They can have a double-length season split over two years, or they can make say 16 episodes and show it as two 8-episode seasons six months apart (WALKING DEAD style). Or even just start a bit earlier and get in 12 or 13 episodes.
No. They started saying 8 after book 3 got split into two seasons, after they confirmed that they would have 4 seasons to do that in.
Seven was not a "preferred" number originally.
You have to read through the doublespeak: they're not certain that they will get eight seasons, so they don't want to proudly declare they want eight....because if they don't, it will look like a failure.
Of course, a double-sized split-season 7, functionally eight seasons, would be a viable option.
Originally they wanted about 90 episodes. When it became clear they couldn't film more than 10 episodes a year, that meant 9 seasons, which they kept saying up to the start of Season 2. Clearly HBO had words, as after that they started saying 7 or 8. This was whittled down to 7 earlier this year as per HBO.
I agree it will be 7 or a technicality-based split final season to get effectively 8.
Would this be the first time in history that a series THIS big and THIS famous actually had the ending spoiled on TV before the actual resolution of the series in book format? All because the author simply was unable to finish his story while at the same time selling it out for untold millions if not tens of millions of dollars to HBO along with the ending?? If so it would be one of the most shameful legacies I can imagine for GRRM. SMH.
GRRM wrote 3 brilliant books, but dropped the ball after A Storm of Swords in 2000. No decent book after that. Now the TV series will be finished before the books are. Shamefull indeed.
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