Initially expected to enter production in the coming weeks, HBO has postponed filming on Game of Thrones season 7 due to inclement weather. Word comes by way of UFC Unfiltered (via Digital Spy), who quizzed showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss about the upcoming and indeed shorter run of episodes, which will now premiere on HBO a little later than expected.
“We’re starting a bit later because at the end of this season, ‘Winter is here’ – and that means that sunny weather doesn’t really serve our purposes any more. So we kind of pushed everything down the line, so we could get some grim grey weather even in the sunnier places that we shoot.”
Given how things stand at the tail-end of “The Winds of Winter,” many of the show’s power players are flocking to Westeros, meaning that much of Game of Thrones seasons 7 and 8 will center on the latest power vacuum to consume King’s Landing, not to mention the seemingly imminent arrival of the Night King and his undead army. Yes, HBO is winding down its flagship with two shorter seasons – said to comprise 13 episodes in total – but they’re already shaping up to be unmissable.
HBO is gearing up for two final, slightly shorter seasons of Game of Thrones to close the book on its arresting adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s novel series. Series stalwart Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World, Terminator: Genisys), Jeremy Podeswa, Matt Shakman and Mark Mylod are among the directors on board to helm individual episodes of the next season.