<P> In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, HBO programming president Casey Bloys stated that instead of the series finale being a feature film, the final season would be "six one - hour movies" on television . He continued, "The show has proven that TV is every bit as impressive and in many cases more so, than film . What they're doing is monumental ." Filming officially began on October 23, 2017, and concluded in July 2018 . </P> <P> Co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have said that the seventh and eighth season would likely consist of fewer episodes, stating that after season six, they were "down to our final 13 episodes after this season . We're heading into the final lap ." Benioff and Weiss stated that they were unable to produce 10 episodes in the show's usual 12 to 14 - month time frame, as Weiss said, "It's crossing out of a television schedule into more of a mid-range movie schedule ." HBO confirmed in July 2016, that the seventh season would consist of seven episodes, and would premiere later than usual in mid-2017 because of the later filming schedule . Benioff and Weiss later confirmed that the eighth season will consist of six episodes, and is expected to premiere later than usual for the same reason . </P> <P> Benioff and Weiss spoke about the end of the show, saying, "From the beginning we've wanted to tell a 70 - hour movie . It will turn out to be a 73 - hour movie, but it's stayed relatively the same of having the beginning, middle and now we're coming to the end . It would have been really tough if we lost any core cast members along the way, I'm very happy we've kept everyone and we get to finish it the way we want to ." The season is scheduled to premiere during the first half of 2019 . </P> <P> Ramin Djawadi is set to return as the composer of the show for the eighth season . </P>

Game of thrones season 8 cast and crew