HBO is eyeing much more Game of Thrones.
Fans have speculated as to how long the fantasy drama based on George R.R. Martin‘s books would last, and HBO programming president Michael Lombardo shed more light on the subject Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour.
“Seven-seasons-and-out has never been the conversation,” Lombardo said. “The question is how much beyond seven are we going to do.”
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He added that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are “feeling like there’s two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds. That’s what we’re looking at right now.”
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Lombardo also addressed speculation that a prequel could be a possibility.
“I would be open to anything Dan and David want to do,” Lombardo said. “It really would depend fully on what they want to do. I think you’re right, there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel. We haven’t had any conversations.”
As for rampant speculation that Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) death in the season five finale wasn’t as final as it seemed, Lombardo was adamant that Snow is indeed dead.
“Dead is dead as dead as dead. He be dead. Yes. Everything I’ve seen, heard, read, Jon Snow is indeed dead,” he said.
The series wrapped season five in June, with season six currently in production. The cast is signed through season seven, which has yet to be officially announced.
In March, Martin wrote a blog post in which he said ten seasons of Game of Thrones sounded good to him.
“I allowed that ten years sounded fine to me. I continue to hear similar sentiments from HBO every time I have a meeting with them, be it in LA or New York,” Martin wrote.
The showrunners have previously maintained that they would like the series to end in seven seasons, but Lombardo’s statements Thursday seem to represent a change of heart.
Martin is currently working on book six out of a planned seven installments of his Song of Ice and Fire series. The HBO series has used up much of the material already published in his books, with season five venturing beyond Martin’s work more than any season before it.
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