For several years, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have said that the series will wrap after the seventh season. That claim was bolstered when most of the main stars signed on through seven seasons.
But at today’s Television Critics Association Press Tour (via TVLine), HBO President Michael Lombardo said that the current plan calls for Game of Thrones to end after eight seasons. But HBO still wants more from George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world.
“I think seven seasons and out has never been the conversation; the question is how much beyond the seventh season are we going to do,” said Lombardo. “[The producers are] feeling like there’s probably two more years after six. I would love for them to change their minds, but that’s what we’re looking at right now.”
Lombardo was also optimistic about potentially revisiting the show’s world in a prequel series. “I would be open to anything [the producers] want to do. There’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel. … At this point, all the focus is on figuring out the next few years with this show.”
Related: Game of Thrones Leads The TV Pack With 24 Emmy Nominations
HBO also announced the second season of The Leftovers will premiere on Sunday, October 4. Additionally, the network revealed a synopsis for the new season that lays out who will be back and where the returning characters will be.
“After last season’s elaborate Memorial Day initiative by the Guilty Remnant plunged Mapleton into chaos, season two of The Leftovers finds many searching for a fresh start. Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) has retired from his post as chief of police of Mapleton and is moving his new family to Texas. With him is Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), who’s discovered new purpose in caring for the baby she found on Kevin’s doorstep and welcomes leaving behind Mapleton and the incredible tragedy she suffered there. Equally eager to leave the town she grew up in and the friends she made there is Kevin’s daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley).
Upon their arrival in Jarden, Texas, the newly formed Garvey family meet their neighbors, the Murphys: John (Kevin Carroll) and Erika (Regina King) and their teenage twins, Evie (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Michael (Jovan Adepo). Attracted to this special town and hoping for miracles for his whole family, Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) has moved with his wife, Mary (Janel Moloney), who still suffers from consequences of the terrible car accident on October 14.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s ex-wife, Laurie Garvey (Amy Brenneman), has left the Guilty Remnant and reunited with her son, Tom (Chris Zylka), who may have finally discovered a cause to help replace the pain in his heart. And while Meg (Liv Tyler) remains in the Guilty Remnant, it may not be the same cult she originally joined.”
What do you think about HBO’s Game of Thrones agenda? Are you ready to let it go after eight seasons? Let us know in the comment section, and don’t forget to share your thoughts on The Leftovers season 2!
