David Farnor | On 06, Mar 2019

After seven seasons of waiting for it to come, winter is finally here – and now, there’s a full-on trailer to go with it.

Yes, the Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer has landed, and it gives us a taste of the sheer scale of what’s to come, with dragons just the start of it. Legions of soldiers lining up for a conflict to end all conflicts, Cersei Lannister making her final play, and Arya Stark continuing to dish out death in the background – and all the while the scene is set at Winterfell for the much-teased showdown that will kick off the season.

You can tell that people are going to die in the final run of HBO’s fantasy epic, not just because of its track record in bumping off characters, but because almost every single member of cast gets their moment in this two-minute tease, bidding hello to some and a farewell to others.

Season 8 premieres at 2am on Monday 15th April on Sky Atlantic in the UK, before being repeated at 9pm – and those without Sky will be able to stream it legally on NOW, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription. Until then, Season 1 to 7 are available on Sky Box Sets and NOW. To get streaming, hit the button below.

 

 

 

 

Season 8 posters tease Game of Thrones winner

28th February 2019

Who will take the throne? With April looming on the horizon, that’s the one question Game of Thrones fans are asking themselves, as HBO’s fantasy epic reaches its final ever season.

That season, one of the biggest in scale as well as profile, promises a conflict to end all conflicts, as the show’s remaining characters collide (and maybe unite) in a battle that will see old scores settled, new alliances formed and a whole army of frostbitten undead monsters try to mow down them all regardless.

Now, HBO is seriously starting to ramp up the preparation, with a whole host of new posters giving us a look at what each major character would like if they were the one left alive on the Iron Throne. From Cersei (Lena Heady) amd Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) to Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and even The Night King, the posters are practically a sweepstakes gift set, daring you to place bets on each character’s survival. You can see the endgame unfold weekly from Monday 15th April, when Season 8 of Game of Thrones premieres on Sky Atlantic.

Catching up or rewatching? See here for our guide to where you can watch Game of Thrones online – and read on for the posters.

 

HBO drops first photos of Game of Thrones Season 8

7th February 2019

The first full set of photos have landed online from Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season.

HBO’s fantasy epic, which is one of the biggest TV shows of the modern telly era, finally draws to a close this summer, with a much-anticipated climax that will see pretty much every character in Westeros collide in a frenzied battle. Starks will take on Lannisters. Targaryens will take on non-Targaryens. And White Walkers, led by the Night King, will take on, well, everyone.

We already know that Season 8 will begin with the arrival of Daenerys and her army at Winterfell, bracing for the invasion of the Army of the Dead, and a massive battle is expected – one that took up at least 55 night shoots for the outdoor sequences, before going in-studio for more filming. The photos certainly set the mood, giving us a look at every major player in dark costumes that make it clear they’re rough and ready and waiting for a brawl.

It doesn’t tell us much more, but Game of Thrones is at the point where it doesn’t have to do anything and fans will still be excitedly counting down the days. Season 8 premieres on Monday 15th April, and the photos remind us of one thing: April is coming.

 

Watch: First official teaser for Game of Thrones Season 8

13th January 2019

The beginning of the end is here, and we’ve got our first official look at what’s in store, as Game of Thrones Season 8 draws closer.

The first proper teaser for the season landed this morning, giving us an actual look at some Season 8 footage, as the Stark family prepare to come face to face with their heritage – and also some chilling forces from beyond the wall…

The video also reveals when the series’ ultimate run will premiere: the Season 8 UK air date is Monday 15th April. In the UK, it will debut on Sky Atlantic at 2am, the same time as its US broadcast, before being repeated at 9pm – and those without Sky will be able to stream it legally on NOW, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription.

Here’s the video:

 

New Game of Thrones Season 8 trailer teases fire and ice

7th December 2018

A new trailer has landed online for Game of Thrones Season 8 and it’s setting the tone firmly to ominous, as we brace for the final clash of fire and ice.

Those wanting concrete glimpses of what’s in store should be warned in advance: this teaser does not contain any actual footage of Season 8, but it does playfully hint at what might unfold in the last ever season of HBO’s fantasy epic. The teaser sees ice whip across the Westeros map, engulfing a wolf statue and a dragon figure, before flames race over the other half of the map, consuming a lion. Is it a hint at the White Walkers invading Winterfell early on and taking down some of the Stark family? Or a cryptic nod to Cersei’s own undoing at the hands of wildfire? Or a game played by HBO, which is no stranger to whipping up audiences into a frenzied anticipation?

Either way, the days when fans can speculate wildly about the possible meanings of the smallest of details are drawing to a close, so watch the trailer below and enjoy letting your imagination go crazy for 50 seconds.

Game of Thrones Season 8 will have an April 2019 release date on Sky Atlantic in the UK. Read on below the trailer for more details of what’s in store:

 

Game of Thrones Season 8: First details and image revealed

2nd November 2018

Winter is coming, which, of course, means that it’s time to start talking Game of Thrones. No, not the Donald Trump tweet that attempts to cash in on the affection fans have for HBO’s fantasy epic, but Season 8 of the show, which arrives in summer 2019. The final ever season of the series, it’s safe to say that its return is highly anticipated, and now, we have our first hints what’s in store, thanks to a cover feature and preview from EW.

Season 8, EW reports, will open at Winterfell, with lots of nods back to the very first episode of the saga. Back when that was made, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had apparently lied to HBO about the project they pitched..

“The lie we told is the show is contained and it’s about the characters,” Benioff revealed. Fast forward several years and the duo are preparing for perhaps the biggest spectacle ever made for TV, as all the threads of the story converge to form one gigantic showdown. The result is a shorter Season 8, with a reported cost of $15 million per episode, as HBO made good on their promise to give the show’s makers what they needed to get the job done.

Indeed, instead of King Robert and his entourage arriving at Winterfell, Season 8 will begin with the arrival of Daenerys and her whole army, as characters meet, some for the first time, and the business of bracing for the invasion of the Army of the Dead begins.

“It’s about all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death,” co-EP Bryan Cogman said. “It’s an incredibly emotional, haunting, bittersweet final season, and I think it honors very much what George set out to do — which is flipping this kind of story on its head.”

Just how big is this bittersweet climax going to be? One episode will reportedly be “wall-to-wall action”, with Battle of the Bastards director Miguel Sapochnik at the helm.

Indeed, last April, it emerged that Game of Thrones had spent 55 night shoots on a single battle sequence – longer, even, than the 25-day shoot for Season 6’s infamous skirmish. But that was apparently only for the outdoor confrontation at Winterfell, with several weeks of in-studio shooting still taking place after that.

“It’s brutal,” Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) commented. “It makes the Battle of the Bastards look like a theme park.”

“Having the largest battle doesn’t sound very exciting — it actually sounds pretty boring,” Benioff noted. “Part of our challenge, and really, Miguel’s challenge, is how to keep that compelling… we’ve been building toward this since the very beginning, it’s the living against the dead, and you can’t do that in a 12-minute sequence.”

The cast also gave their reactions to the scripts for the season, with Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) racing through her copies. “It was completely overwhelming,” she said. “Afterwards I felt numb, and I had to take a walk for hours.” Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) “completely flipped out” when she was sent the very secure scripts. “Genuinely the effect it had on me was profound,” she described. “That sounds insanely pretentious, but I’m an actor, so I’m allowed one pretentious adjective per season.”

 

HBO drops first footage from Game of Thrones’ final season

28th August 2018

The first footage from Game of Thrones’ final season has landed online, courtesy of a new promo from HBO.

The cable giant released a promotional video for its upcoming slate for 2019, featuring the Flight of Conchords special (recorded in London this summer), as well as True Detective’s much anticipated third season, starring Mahershala Ali. The most anticipated HBO show of all, though, is, of course Game of Thrones. The fantasy epic, based on the novels by George RR Martin, returns in 2019 for its eighth and final run, promising to wrap the story up once and for all – and probably in the most violent way possible.

The video continues highlight clips from Season 7 but also some brief glimpses of the upcoming run, including Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) embracing. The teaser arrives as HBO is developing a potential Game of Thrones spin-off – and as the broadcaster prepares to pave the way for a new slate of flagship originals to take over in Game of Thrones’ wake, from the ongoing saga of Westworld to an adaptation of Watchmen from The Leftovers and Lost creator Damon Lindelof.

Here’s the video:

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