• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Game of Thrones Season 8 episode lengths revealed

EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
https://ew.com/tv/2019/01/23/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-lengths-reportedly-leaked/

A report from a meeting of a group of TV networks in France has revealed the alleged runtimes of the six final episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Premiere magazine reported the following from an Orange Cinema Series presentation about the upcoming GoT season 8.

The magazine claims the first two episodes of the season are 60 minutes each, and the final four episodes are 80 minutes each (the screenshot below says 6×90, but the reporter in the room explained the speaker clarified that).
Click to expand...

Allegedly: 60, 60, 80, 80, 80, 80 (approximate).


If you haven't been following updates closely, season 8's episodes are being directed by D&D (8.6), David Nutter (8.1, 8.2, 8.4), and Miguel Sapochnik (8.3, 8.5). Sapochnik directed some of the best episodes previously (Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards, Winds of Winter) so I'm looking forward to those in particular.


Teaser:

 
DKehoe

DKehoe

Member
I expected the episodes to be longer, like 90 minutes each. I had thought they said something along those lines when they announced the shorter season. But I'm ok with it. I'd rather the final season didn't have filler.
 
TheShadowLord

TheShadowLord

Member
Is game of thrones still worth watching? I heard the last two seasons are that great but amazon france has seasons 1 to 7 on blu ray for 44 euros
 
Cunth

Cunth

Fingerlickin' Good!
Battle of the Bastards was so good. Hope the new season is not just a full on CG fest with dragons destroying everything. Also hoping for some surprises, and not have everything go as people expect it to
 
bitbydeath

bitbydeath

Member
That’s disappointing, hopefully the battles are at least on par with Vikings for once. D&D always seem to cheap out on this aspect of the show.
 
_Starscream_

_Starscream_

Member
llien said:
Used to be, but it got to "don't care much" for me.
Still the best show of this genre though.


I counted 6.
Click to expand...

GoT episodes are usually 60 minutes long. The last 4 episodes are 80 minutes each, so taking 20 minutes from them and adding up, you have basically a new episode
 
DeepEnigma

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Cunth said:
Battle of the Bastards was so good. Hope the new season is not just a full on CG fest with dragons destroying everything. Also hoping for some surprises, and not have everything go as people expect it to
Click to expand...

The only thing I didn't like was the off camera death of Stannis Baratheon because the actor apparently had a stick up his ass about it being "gratuitous" or something, something, bullshit.
 
bitbydeath

bitbydeath

Member
DeepEnigma said:
The only thing I didn't like was the off camera death of Stannis Baratheon because the actor apparently had a stick up his ass about it being "gratuitous" or something, something, bullshit.
Click to expand...

Still waiting for Lady Stoneheart to arrive. Hopefully she’ll be seen in the final few moments hanging anyone that was otherwise left alive.
 
DKehoe

DKehoe

Member
DeepEnigma said:
The only thing I didn't like was the off camera death of Stannis Baratheon because the actor apparently had a stick up his ass about it being "gratuitous" or something, something, bullshit.
Click to expand...

The actor for Stannis having such contempt for the show really demonstrates what a perfect Stannis he is.
 
Last edited:
DKehoe

DKehoe

Member
DeepEnigma said:
For real, lol.

You can watch his "daughter" burn alive, but let's balk at the idea of an on-screen death for himself.
Click to expand...

I wasn’t that bothered by them not actually showing the exact moment of his death.

The actor saying he doesn’t understand the appeal of the show is the real highlight though.
 
DeepEnigma

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
DKehoe said:
I wasn’t that bothered by them not actually showing the exact moment of his death.

The actor saying he doesn’t understand the appeal of the show is the real highlight though.
Click to expand...

I can see that. I just wanted Brienne to have her on screen mission justice.
 
TheShadowLord

TheShadowLord

Member
bitbydeath said:
How many seasons have you watched?
Also if you're planning on watching the latest season then you definitely need to catch-up.
If not, then you might be better waiting off for the entire set to release.
Click to expand...
I think up to season 2? Which is why I am asking if 44 euros($54)for seasons 1 to 7 is a good deal if I only see the first two seasons. 1/3 of US version plus it is region free.
 
Last edited:
bitbydeath

bitbydeath

Member
TheShadowLord said:
I think up to season 2? Which is why I am asking if 44 euros($54)for seasons 1 to 7 is a good deal if I only see the first two seasons. 1/3 of US version plus it is region free.
Click to expand...

It certainly sounds worth it, the only thing would be if you're happy missing out on the last season in your bundle.
 
BlueAlpaca

BlueAlpaca

Member
Just a few days ago I finished rewatching 1-7, it was both so good and so frustrating. The writing was just awful for 6/7, with 7 nearly every scene or line had problems. However, it's not just the hack showrunners that are the problem, even stuff that came from the books had a lot of nonsense. The whole thing with viserys expecting drogo to give him an army is absurd, why would drogo do that? because he made a deal? it'd be an incredibly unbelievable deal. Daenerys is not a queen, she just has a name. And of coursing melting gold in a few seconds/minutes when he killed him. Then the valyrian dagger, why would anybody be stupid enough to give the assassin such a knife? And I can't believe how catelyn is stupid enough to believe littlefinger when he blames tyrion. You could do this episode by episode, season by season, and it gets worse as you go on but it was there from the beginning. Oh well, it still manages to be an entertaining show.

I hope the next one (the long night) is better. It'll at least have a bigger budget from the get-go as the brand's pretty big now, a clean slate with no books to worry about, and no D&D writing anything hopefully.
 
Last edited:
King of Foxes

King of Foxes

Banned
BlueAlpaca said:
Just a few days ago I finished rewatching 1-7, it was both so good and so frustrating. The writing was just awful for 6/7, with 7 nearly every scene or line had problems. However, it's not just the hack showrunners that are the problem, even stuff that came from the books had a lot of nonsense. The whole thing with viserys expecting drogo to give him an army is absurd, why would drogo do that? because he made a deal? it'd be an incredibly unbelievable deal. Daenerys is not a queen, she just has a name. And of coursing melting gold in a few seconds/minutes when he killed him. Then the valyrian dagger, why would anybody be stupid enough to give the assassin such a knife? And I can't believe how catelyn is stupid enough to believe littlefinger when he blames tyrion. You could do this episode by episode, season by season, and it gets worse as you go on but it was there from the beginning. Oh well, it still manages to be an entertaining show.

I hope the next one (the long night) is better. It'll at least have a bigger budget from the get-go as the brand's pretty big now, a clean slate with no books to worry about, and no D&D writing anything hopefully.
Click to expand...

A wizard did it
 
notkeylime

notkeylime

Spoiler Tag Abuser
I think at this point we're all just along for the ride and too invested to look away. I still enjoyed Season 7, but can definitely see how the pacing would throw people off, especially in a show that basically reveled in detail and nuance and dialogue earlier in the show.

At this point I just want to see how the rollercoaster ends, and I can't say I've been disappointed.

It's like watching WWE. You spend an entire year watching these stories build and then suddenly it's all about Wrestlemania, where it's going to be spectacle after spectacle. The time for rich character building and plot build-ups is behind us now. We're in the endgame.

I'm ready for the Wrestlemania of Thrones.
 
greyshark

greyshark

Member
Duallusion said:
If this doesn't feel rushed when all is said and done, I'll be very, very surprised.
Click to expand...

They basically already speed-wrapped up many loose ends from the series over the last season or so.

At this point it’s just defeat the white walkers and complete the final battle for the iron throne. I expect lots of exciting action sequences and “holy shit” moments, with a final payoff of the good guys prevailing.
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
Keylime said:
I think at this point we're all just along for the ride and too invested to look away. I still enjoyed Season 7, but can definitely see how the pacing would throw people off, especially in a show that basically reveled in detail and nuance and dialogue earlier in the show.

At this point I just want to see how the rollercoaster ends, and I can't say I've been disappointed.

It's like watching WWE. You spend an entire year watching these stories build and then suddenly it's all about Wrestlemania, where it's going to be spectacle after spectacle. The time for rich character building and plot build-ups is behind us now. We're in the endgame.

I'm ready for the Wrestlemania of Thrones.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Also, I think people forget that in terms of the writing of the show, last season the writers were well past the books and into the plot outline GRRM gave them. I thought overall they did a decent enough job, but without the books, as a means to flesh out events, I don't think they had a lot of choice but to speed things up. The only alternative would have been to add another season and pad things out, and I'm not sure anyone involved wanted to go down that route.

greyshark said:
At this point it’s just defeat the white walkers and complete the final battle for the iron throne. I expect lots of exciting action sequences and “holy shit” moments, with a final payoff of the good guys prevailing.
Click to expand...

We are talking about GRRM here. I'm not so convinced it's going to be all that happy.
 
Last edited:
AV

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Hopefully there's a lot less of this;

problem that is obviously going to be solved with dragons > pointless drama to build fake suspense > oh look big surprise the dragons solved the problem

It really killed a lot of what might have otherwise been great scenes last season. Daenerys is far and away the absolute worst part of this fiction. Her entire arc has been an absolute chore to wade through and she's existed solely to fly over and help out at the end. Doesn't help that Clarke can't act her way out of a paper bag. If I ever watch GoT through again I'm fast-forwarding every one of her scenes, should shave a good chunk of time off. She sucks as a character and I just do not understand why the masses get so excited about big CGI dragons that look straight out of Reign of Fire. /rant
 
Last edited:
greyshark

greyshark

Member
Kadayi said:
We are talking about GRRM here. I'm not so convinced it's going to be all that happy.
Click to expand...

It's not though, right? I thought D&D had decided their own path forward to wrap up the story - and have already majorly diverged from where GRRM intended to take it.
 
ruvikx

ruvikx

Banned
AV said:
It really killed a lot of what might have otherwise been great scenes last season. Daenerys is far and away the absolute worst part of this fiction. Her entire arc has been an absolute chore to wade through and she's existed solely to fly over and help out at the end. Doesn't help that Clarke can't act her way out of a paper bag. If I ever watch GoT through again I'm fast-forwarding every one of her scenes, should shave a good chunk of time off. She sucks as a character and I just do not understand why the masses get so excited about big CGI dragons that look straight out of Reign of Fire. /rant
Click to expand...

It'll redeem itself when/if Daenerys doesn't get the throne & sit there with a smug self-satisfied look on her face. To be honest I fully expect the final season to play it totally safe, with the Hound getting his revenge, Cersei dying in Jamie's arms, the white walkers destroyed & Jon + Dany agreeing to demolish the throne & usher in a democracy in what's left of Westeros. Wham bam thank you HBO.

The battles should be epic though (best special effects on TV).
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
greyshark said:
It's not though, right? I thought D&D had decided their own path forward to wrap up the story - and have already majorly diverged from where GRRM intended to take it.
Click to expand...

Without getting into spoilers the show has diverted from the books in a lot of ways however I think much of that comes down to the necessities of character amalgamation, and managing a cast/budget etc. I think in principle the direction the show takes in terms of a conclusion will be along the lines of whatever the outline was GRRM gave them.
 
greyshark

greyshark

Member
Kadayi said:
Without getting into spoilers the show has diverted from the books in a lot of ways however I think much of that comes down to the necessities of character amalgamation, and managing a cast/budget etc. I think in principle the direction the show takes in terms of a conclusion will be along the lines of whatever the outline was GRRM gave them.
Click to expand...

You might be right - personally I think once they hit R+L=J they were completely on their own.
 
H

HalfClip

Neo Member
I expected them to be longer. I don't know where I got that impression from, probably some two paragraphs non news hype article somewhere along the way. The last few episodes being 80 minutes is good enough for me.
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
greyshark said:
You might be right - personally I think once they hit R+L=J they were completely on their own.
Click to expand...

They have all talked about spending a couple of days with GRRM basically going through the major plotlines and what happened to each character, so I expect them to largely stick with it.
 
Cunth

Cunth

Fingerlickin' Good!
i hope an absolute prick ends up on the throne. Zombie Joffrey please
 
Last edited:
AV

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
There's some great bets available online. I saw "The Hound to kill The Mountain while riding a dragon" at 33/1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Finale Scores 8.2 Million Viewers, Reaching Series High
News 2 3
141
9K
Zephyrus0 replied
Army of Darkness (1993) and "The Long Night" from Game of Thrones are similar tales with stark differences.
0
1K
Madflavor replied
Maisie Williams And Kaitlyn Dever Were Considered For Canceled TLOU Movie | HBO Show has higher budget than Game of Thrones
News 2
86
7K
Inlusione replied
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | Rotten Watch
News 2
52
4K
cormack12 replied
Neva | Review Thread
Review
27
2K
Humdinger replied
Top Bottom