Winter has arrived in Westeros for HBO's GAME OF THRONES, and, as a result, that's shifting the production and release schedule the series has typically operated under. Today, the cable network confirmed that Season Seven of GAME OF THRONES will go into production later this summer, thus moving the season's debut into summer of 2017. In addition, Season Seven will be comprised of only seven episodes, a shorter run than the 10-episode stretches that have made up the series to this point.
“Now that winter has arrived on GAME OF THRONES, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
GAME OF THRONES secured 23 Primetime Emmy nominations last week, the most of any nominee for the third year running, including Outstanding Drama Series, two for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington), three for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Max von Sydow), two for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Miguel Sapochnik, Jack Bender) and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss).