Will the final season by any chance be an extended one?

[biosnake20]

Is there even any way to find out what constitutes a "season" of television? Sopranos did a split season that was almost double the length of a usual season so it's hard to guess what the limit is in terms of episodes and how much time you have to shoot it.

[boojam]

No. They don't have TIME to do more than 10 episodes.

It would cost to provide the resources to do , say, 12 episodes. That might mean even adding a 3rd shooting crew, make another assistant line producer, they do now have Brayan as a production producer and could add Dave Hill , more editing resources. Money they got, just need the will.

[TaenaOfMyr]

I don't think an extended final season (12-13 episodes instead of the usual 10, or a few 2 hour episodes) is all that unreasonable. It would only work in a final season since they don't need to worry about starting up preparation for the next season. And a corresponding delay in the premiere date to say summer instead of the early April start we are used to seeing.

A movie will never happen though. Those who think so don't get how this business works.

[Zylathas]

I think that it's possible if they delayed the episode by half a year. Then we might actually get 15-16 episodes for season 7, they might even do it like the walking dead where they air season 7A between october and november and season 7B in April.

It wouldn't suprise me at the least really, but that would mean that there is 1.5 to 2 years between season 6 ánd season 7.

[Jack Bauer 24]

I think that it's possible if they delayed the episode by half a year. Then we might actually get 15-16 episodes for season 7, they might even do it like the walking dead where they air season 7A between october and november and season 7B in April.

It wouldn't suprise me at the least really, but that would mean that there is 1.5 to 2 years between season 6 ánd season 7.

Two years between the final two seasons?

[boojam]

I don't think an extended final season (12-13 episodes instead of the usual 10, or a few 2 hour episodes) is all that unreasonable. It would only work in a final season since they don't need to worry about starting up preparation for the next season. And a corresponding delay in the premiere date to say summer instead of the early April start we are used to seeing.

A movie will never happen though. Those who think so don't get how this business works.

As someone mentioned Firefly did this, in recent times. An example of a show with an enthusiastic fan base. Never got to the end of its initial run.

Generated enough buzz that Universal finished it as a film ... Serenity.

Broke even world wide but that's not a winner.

It was a critical success, I liked it, tho as Space Opera I know better prose sources.

It's hard to count Star Trek , that had a rather weird history, wildly likely by rabid fans for years, then a big hit in syndication, and now many films, tho none of them really finish out a story sequence.

As TV , almost flop, rerun success, to a Film success, back to a TV success, that one is a strange story.

I have the recollection that other TV shows have had their movie counterparts tho none , I can remember, finishing a story.

GOT could be a weird one, depends on the response to seasons 5 and 6 , if it goes through the ceiling , I have to wonder.

Box Office is strange these days, there have been genre films that have bombed in the US and them made 500 million , more, internationally.

Listen money is no problem Warner could scare up 300 million or more for a film if they want to and it has buzz and name recognition.

It would be complicated but a lot of money can cut through a lot complications.

[White Harbors Wrath]

I don't really understand these discussions.

D&D know the ending...so they have, at the very least (though I expect it's well mapped out at this point), a cocktail napkin type outline of what they need to do to get to the ending.

They have said they can't do more than 10 episodes a season.

They have said that they're planning on seven seasons.

I don't think we need to call Scotland yard in on this one.

[Jack Bauer 24]

I don't really understand these discussions.

D&D know the ending...so they have, at the very least (though I expect it's well mapped out at this point), a cocktail napkin type outline of what they need to do to get to the ending.

They have said they can't do more than 10 episodes a season.

They have said that they're planning on seven seasons.

I don't think we need to call Scotland yard in on this one.

Well season 5 is already filmed, so they will reach the ending in 20 more episodes after that?

[boojam]

I don't really understand these discussions.

D&D know the ending...so they have, at the very least (though I expect it's well mapped out at this point), a cocktail napkin type outline of what they need to do to get to the ending.

They have said they can't do more than 10 episodes a season.

They have said that they're planning on seven seasons.

I don't think we need to call Scotland yard in on this one.

Still 2 years to season 7.

These things have happened, season 7 is not green lighted, yet the cast has signed contracts for a season 7, the IMAX thing follows on the heels of season 4 breaking HBO's season record, and HBO has gotten parent Time-Warner attention with the show.

I also think that D&D still have 7 planned out. However what has been planned can be unplanned if the money forces make a move at the end of this, which can happen if 5 busts 4s record.

It is unusual times, exhibitors are looking to fill seats.

I am not saying it's gonna happen but lots of money can cut through plans on a napkin.

[Mel_Rose]

Nor do I think a movie to be very likely. First off you would have to get all the original cast. Full stop, that is going to be expensive, especially when you consider that quite a few of the high end actors in the show are likely to be the ones in the movie. Movies are expensive in general and fantasy movies in particular. Particularly when you consider that one of the reasons some people want a movie is to afford all the big special effects. Then you have to write the script in the show to match up with the movie. That means that the show doesn't even have a proper ending without the movie. That movie wouldn't be released until significantly after the last episode aired. Would the hype remain? Maybe or maybe not. Sure, the show is riding high now, but all shows start to decline after a time. Sevens seasons is a fairly long run for a show. There is also the issue of, frankly, screwing over the customers of HBO by not giving them a proper ending to the show they have been paying for for the last seven years on their television screens. Not everybody likes to go to a theater, and for some people it is just not convenient to go to one. Whereas they can easily watch the show at home on their pimped system not surrounded by people who may make them miss something. I suppose they could release it simultaneously on HBO, but how many people would go to the theater then? Really the only people who could watch the movie and really comprehend what is going on are those who already invested 70 hours into a complicated show. And you know this movie would have to be rated R, which further reduces spontaneous buys. I just don't see it, despite its popularity. Oh, and if you don't get D&D to write it, it is not happening. I think they are ready to move on after the show is done.

Exactly. It's not a question of having the production money. The question is who (other than the fans) will go to watch a film that's not a rounded, self-contained story, but the ending of one. Also, seeing as the audience has paid good money on HBO or DVDs to watch 7 seasons, telling them they have to go to the cinemas to see the end is absurd. I'd be pretty pissed off this happened, tbh.

[White Harbors Wrath]

Well season 5 is already filmed, so they will reach the ending in 20 more episodes after that?

You know who the only people are that know the answer to that? D & D.

And since they've already answered it publicly....I'm guessing they know.

They said this after they met with GRRM...if they were unsure at all...they would not have said seven seasons...those two never really let off with any info. If they thought, after talking to GRRM that it may be 8 or 9 seasons or need a movie...they most definitely would have played the mysterious card...they do this with every other question. They could have easily dummied up...but they didn't. They blatantly said 4 felt like the halfway point and that it would be seven seasons.

I am not saying that there will not be a hurtin' in HBO's subscriptions when this is done...but I've been watching HBO shows since "First and Ten"...they really don't mess with the producers. If D & D want to walk away, after seven...because they planned it to end in seven, that means the story will be over. Just because it's a cash cow, does not mean they're going to bring in Josh Whedon to write an imaginary new ending and continue it for another two seasons.

HBO will live after this. GoT is not their first hit show and it wont be their last.

[White Harbors Wrath]

And with they way they've abbreviated/abandoned storylines...as enjoyable as most of GRRM's tangents are...it pretty much shows a lot of his stuff is literary fluff not necessary to the major arc.

Do we really want D&D dragging this out with their own ideas? I think the less interpretation they have left the better honestly. I love the show, but do we need more Yara vs the Dreadfort ad-libbing or eunuch love stories?

[White Harbors Wrath]

Exactly. It's not a question of having the production money. The question is who (other than the fans) will go to watch a film that's not a rounded, self-contained story, but the ending of one. Also, seeing as the audience has paid good money on HBO or DVDs to watch 7 seasons, telling them they have to go to the cinemas to see the end is absurd. I'd be pretty pissed off this happened, tbh.

This is exactly correct, this is not Sex and the City, where Brienne and Pod can just go to Milan Fashion Week for some side story. When the story is done, it's done.

That doesn't mean we're not going to see something else GRRM related, but ASoIaF is what it is.

[TaenaOfMyr]

As someone mentioned Firefly did this, in recent times. An example of a show with an enthusiastic fan base. Never got to the end of its initial run.
Generated enough buzz that Universal finished it as a film ... Serenity.
Broke even world wide but that's not a winner.
It was a critical success, I liked it, tho as Space Opera I know better prose sources.

It's hard to count Star Trek , that had a rather weird history, wildly likely by rabid fans for years, then a big hit in syndication, and now many films, tho none of them really finish out a story sequence.
As TV , almost flop, rerun success, to a Film success, back to a TV success, that one is a strange story.

I have the recollection that other TV shows have had their movie counterparts tho none , I can remember, finishing a story.

GOT could be a weird one, depends on the response to seasons 5 and 6 , if it goes through the ceiling , I have to wonder.
Box Office is strange these days, there have been genre films that have bombed in the US and them made 500 million , more, internationally.
Listen money is no problem Warner could scare up 300 million or more for a film if they want to and it has buzz and name recognition.
It would be complicated but a lot of money can cut through a lot complications.

A fantasy movie rated R that requires the viewer to have seen 70 previous episodes, which are on premium cable, is not going to be the big hit that people think it would be. And HBO, in the business of producing content with the express purpose of people subscribing to HBO to get said content, is not going to produce the ending to their most popular show of all time in another medium. Anyone who believes a movie is a possibility for the series ending needs to get over it. It is not happening.

[White Harbors Wrath]

I think the chiefest proponent of the movies is GRRM himself, he's the one that keeps hinting at it...getting peoples hopes up. That poor dude cant even figure out how to finish his own books...the last thing he should be worried about his how someone else finishes a TV show...regardless of it being his source material.

It's like a farmer so worried about how the painter is going to finish a still life of his fruit, that he forgets to plants more fruit for next season.

[VictariousReturneth]

I think the chiefest proponent of the movies is GRRM himself, he's the one that keeps hinting at it...getting peoples hopes up. That poor dude cant even figure out how to finish his own books...the last thing he should be worried about his how someone else finishes a TV show...regardless of it being his source material.

It's like a farmer so worried about how the painter is going to finish a still life of his fruit, that he forgets to plants more fruit for next season.

You do have some good arguments, but why would an extended 7th season not be consistent to D&D's plan? Yes, they've been firm on 7 seasons being the run of the show, but that could still mean 6 seasons and a longer 7th.

[White Harbors Wrath]

Because they've said 10 episodes is their max financially/time wise. If they know that ten episodes is the max and they know how it ends and have an outline to get there....and they're asked the question...then they tell someone seven seasons. Why would it be anything but that?

I love the show. I wish it would be on forever. But there's all these clues and blatant statements by the guys running the show that are big enough to wrap up a murder case cold and people are still like "well what if they finish it with 7 Broadway plays and a radio serial series?!?....GRRM hinted at it!"

[VictariousReturneth]

Because they've said 10 episodes is their max financially/time wise. If they know that ten episodes is the max and they know how it ends and have an outline to get there....and they're asked the question...then they tell someone seven seasons. Why would it be anything but that?

I love the show. I wish it would be on forever. But there's all these clues and blatant statements by the guys running the show that are big enough to wrap up a murder case cold and people are still like "well what if they finish it with 7 Broadway plays and a radio serial series?!?....GRRM hinted at it!"

They've only said that they can't increase their episode count because it takes a full year to make 10 episodes and to add on any more would not only rush the scripts but it would rush the production in order to get the season out by a set date (March-April). But for the final season the same rules don't apply since they have enough leeway to change the premiere date and also get more time to work on it...

[boojam]

They've only said that they can't increase their episode count because it takes a full year to make 10 episodes and to add on any more would not only rush the scripts but it would rush the production in order to get the season out by a set date (March-April). But for the final season the same rules don't apply since they have enough leeway to change the premiere date and also get more time to work on it...

They could do more than ten if they had more resources and would delegate authority. Money is no problem for that. They don't seem to want to do that , seemingly, because of artistic control.

[Khal-a-bunga]

I think we can pretty safely count out the idea that the ending of the show will take place exclusively on the big screen. It may air simultaneously, as some kind of special theatrical event, but the series is definitely going to get its proper ending on HBO.

An extended final season, however, is totally possible. With regards to the current production cycle of the show, filming more than ten episodes simply isn't possible. Why? Mainly because after all of the promotion is finished for the current season, the following season needs to be written, the locations scouted, new sets built, actors need to be cast and scheduled, budgets need to be approved, etc.

But when you take away the problem of having an entirely different season to prep for, you're allowed significantly more leeway. The show generally shoots from July to December, with an episode of the show taking approximately 18 days to shoot. Of course there's also a significant amount of post-production work that needs to be done, but that is all taken into consideration.

So if the production takes a holiday break, then continues shooting into February, the show can theoretically add two or three additional episodes without delaying (much) the time slot the show has always held. Of course this would require a lot of additional money for the production, it would not require the actors to sign new contracts, which is becoming the worry as the show gains popularity and the old contracts run their course.

A split season seems unlikely to me, though. I think something much more modest is perfectly reasonable to expect, however.