‘Game of Thrones’ may wrap with two more shortened seasons; showrunners want to film 13 more episodes

Winter may be coming earlier than fans had hoped.

The long-gestating rumor that “Game of Thrones” will end after its eighth season could be true, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recently divulged to Variety magazine.

 

“I think we’re down to our final 13 episodes after this season. We’re heading into the final lap,” Benioff explained.

The sixth season for the hit HBO show is set to launch on April 24 and it may be the last one with a ten-episode order. The story for the coveted golden Throne could then be told over seven episodes in season seven and six episodes for the eighth and final season.

“That’s the guess, though nothing is yet set in stone, but that’s what we’re looking at,” Benioff added.

Benioff and Weiss are hoping for shorter episode runs when they next start filming as the grueling production takes too long.

“It’s crossing out of a television schedule into more of a mid-range movie schedule,” Weiss said.

Still, exactly how many episodes it will take to wrap up the epic story of Westeros is “still in conversations,” HBO Programming President Michael Lombardo stressed to the magazine.

 

A possible conclusion in two years means the show will likely bow out before George R.R. Martin completes his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.

 

The next book, “The Winds of Winter” has an expected release date in late 2016, with a final book, “A Dream of Spring” to follow at an unannounced date.

It took the fantasy writer five years to complete the last released novel, “A Dance with Dragons.”