‘Game of Thrones Season 8 Under Consideration; HBO Exploring Possible Prequel Series More than Proposed Spin-off, Executive Offers Update

‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 continues to be under consideration. Meanwhile, HBO is also exploring a possible prequel series more than a proposed spin-off as hinted by HBO’s president of programming Casey Bloys.

The upcoming season of ‘Game of Thrones’ will only comprise seven episodes as opposed to the usual 10-episode order. Season 8 was previously thought to wrap with an even shorter run than its predecessors. However, it seems that the final season may get more episodes than expected.

Bloys revealed that although the series is yet to be renewed on the network, he still hopes to have more than just 13 episodes. According to the A.V. Club, he admitted, "The only thing we're working out is how many episodes they want to do… They're still figuring it out because I think they're trying to get a shape of the season. They always do what they think [will yield] the best version of the show. It's all about how many they're comfortable [with]. But I'll always take more."

He added, “If you're afraid we're not going to do an eighth season, I assure you we're going to."

Bloys also gave an update on the possible prequel/spin-off for the highly popular fantasy-drama during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. According to Comicbook.com, Bloys said, “All I can say is that we’re exploring it. We don’t have any scripts, we’re not even close to saying ‘Oh let’s do this.’ But it’s a big enough property that we would be foolish not to explore it… It’s a really rich world. We’d be foolish not to look at it.”

Author George R. R. Martin already created several books on the expansion of the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series, which served as the basis for the television adaptation and is currently intended to comprise seven volumes. The author began to the first volume ‘Game of Thrones’ in 1991 and had it published in 1996. To date, he continues to write the sixth volume, titled ‘Winds of Winter.’

According to the Telegraph, Martin hinted that book six may be released sometime in late 2017. When asked by a fan for updates on the penultimate book, he replied, "Not done yet, but I've made progress. But not as much as I hoped a year ago, when I thought to be done by now. I think it will be out this year. (But hey, I thought the same thing last year).” It is expected to be followed by the final novel, ‘A Dream of Spring.’

Martin released prequel novellas that have been collected into ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.’ He also released a history book on the world of ‘Game of Thrones’, titled ‘The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones.’