David Farnor | On 21, Jun 2017

“Don’t fight the north. Or the south. Fight every battle. Everywhere.”

That’s Littlefinger in the new trailer for Game of Thrones Season 7. And, judging by the carnage on display in the two-minute teaser, it’s advice worth listening to, as we get a new glimpse of the very real danger that faces Westeros – not danger from one particular family house, but from beyond the wall, where the Night King has assembled his forces of walkers and is on the move. Oh yes, Season 7 is happening. And it promises all the battles all the time.

On the hottest day of the year, this latest video is a visceral reminder that winter is coming in only a few weeks’ time. Season 7 will be shorter run of just seven episodes, although it will climax with a longer, feature-length finale. From glimpses of dragons, a poetic prophecy from an ominous Sansa and Ramin Djawadi’s haunting music from Season 6’s conclusion ringing in our eyes, the mood in the run-up to a season of Game of Thrones has rarely been so tense – or so thrilling.

Season 7 swoops onto Sky Atlantic and NOW on 17th July, with episodes arriving weekly on Mondays, within hours of their US broadcast. Episode 1 will be simulcast at 2am, for those keen to avoid spoilers, which means Episode 1 will be available on-demand immediately after, so you can watch it any time you like. Need a Westeros fix before then? For more information, click here – or read on for the trailer.

 

 

New Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer teases glimpse of Great War

24th May 2017

“Enemies to the East. Enemies to the West…” No, it’s not Cersei Lannister doing her impression of Geoffrey’s poetry from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – it’s the sound of a sister and brother preparing for war. Because yes, Season 7 of Game of Thrones is almost upon us – and our first proper look at the penultimate season promises carnage, carnage and even more carnage.

With Dany hopping across the sea, with dragons in tow, and Jon Snow rising in the North, not to mention the White Walkers descending from beyond the wall – and, in the middle of them all, Arya, Sansa, Littlefinger and many others – the stage is set for an epic conflict, one that may not even see someone sit on the Iron Throne come the finale.

Season 7 swoops onto Sky Atlantic and NOW on 17th July.

Here’s the trailer:

 

Sit down and watch the new Game of Thrones Season 7 trailer

31st Mar 2017

Expect the unexpected. That’s what we’ve come to expect from Game of Thrones and Season 7 is already coming up with new ways to surprise us. Not by killing someone off unexpectedly. Or bringing them back from the dead. Not even by burning down half of Kings Landing with wildfire. The big surprise? Using James in the show’s latest trailer.

“Oh, sit down,” sings the new teaser for the penultimate season of HBO’s fantasy epic, as it turns the Mancunian band’s amiable pop hit into something altogether more ominous, as Jon, Cersei and Daenerys all take their seats at their own throne. Cersei, of course, is the only one on the Iron Throne – but with the three forces wanting the Throne clearly assembled, how long will that last? And, with the Night King watching, how long until they all have to sit down together (in love, in fear, in hate and in tears) to fend off the White Walkers?

Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Monday 17th July at 9pm – and, for those keen to avoid spoilers, will be simulcast at 2am on Sunday 16th July, which means Episode 1 will be available to stream on-demand in the UK immediately following the US broadcast. Non-Sky customers can do the same with NOW.

 

Game of Thrones Season 7 gets 17th July premiere date

9th March 2017

Game of Thrones will premiere on Sunday 16th July in the US – and will be simulcast live in the UK.

The show’s return for its penultimate season is one of the most anticipated events in the TV calendar for 2017. While the show would normally premiere in April, this year has seen its air date pushed back to the summer, because, in a sign of the end-times, winter has actually come, which means that the whole production had to wait for colder weather to film the next instalments in George RR Martin’s increasingly dark fantasy epic.

HBO announced the Season 7 release date in a Facebook Live stunt, which saw cast members petitioning fans to engage with a live-streamed video by commenting “FIRE”, supposedly causing a giant block of ice to melt and reveal the premiere date. After 35 minutes of the broadcast, the live video cut out multiple times, leaving fans annoyed and frustrated. And so HBO took to Twitter to announce that the Facebook Live gimmick would soon resume.

HBO has also unveiled a teaser poster and trailer for the new season, which, fittingly enough, teases the looming clash of fire and ice, as we brace ourselves for Dany’s dragons heading to Westeros and the Night King descending from North of the Wall. You can see that without commenting “FIRE” here, and the trailer below:

When will Game of Thrones Season 7 premiere in the UK? The US date means that for British fans, the show will premiere on Sky Atlantic on Monday 17th July, within 24 hours of its stateside debut. For those not wanting to wait, though, the opening episode will be simulcast at 2am on Monday 17th July at the same time as the US broadcast.

In fact, Season 7 of Game of Thrones will simulcast weekly at 2am, followed by a repeat at 9pm on Mondays. That means that you’ll be able to watch each episode on-demand following its simulcast, so you can stream it when you like to avoid spoilers – with your breakfast, at lunch or just after getting in from work.

For non-Sky customers, the show will be available on streaming service NOW, which costs £6.99 a month for an Entertainment Membership. The series is not currently available on Sky or NOW, but it will return to Sky Box Sets in May, just in time for a binge-watching marathon. In the meantime, you can read our reviews of Game of Thrones Season 6, plus where to catch up online, here.

Alternatively, here’s the new teaser trailer:

 

Angela Lansbury joins Game of Thrones Season 7?

6th September 2016

Reports suggest that the words you always wanted to hear are true: Angela Lansbury will be in Game of Thrones.

According to German site Bild, the Murder, She Wrote star is set to make a guest appearance in the latest season of HBO’s fantasy epic. Bild says that she will guest star in two episodes, although there is no confirmation from HBO that the report is true, nor any word on what part she might play.

The casting rumour is the latest to hit the show, with Jim Broadbent reportedly set to take a significant role in Season 7. Both are certainly par for the course in Game of Thrones’ growing library of noted thesps and screen legions – they follow the news that Brian Cox turned down a role in the series during its early days.

The Lansbury report also follows the admission from the actress that she only agreed to play Jessica Fletcher for the money.

“I did it for the money. There comes a time in a theatrical life when you say to yourself, ‘Well I can’t make any money in the theatre’, so television was a very specific decision I made,” she told the Mirror.

“When this came on the horizon I thought, ‘That’s interesting… I think I can make something of this’.”

264 episodes later and the 90-year-old may be back on our small screens sooner than you think.

Image: Universal Playback

 

Jim Broadbent joins Game of Thrones Season 7

1st September 2016

Jim Broadbent has joined the cast for Game of Thrones’ seventh season.

The news, which Entertainment Weekly broke last night, marks the first piece of casting for the penultimate season of HBO’s fantasy epic. The show’s exec producers confirmed earlier this year that there would only be two more seasons of the show, with George RR Martin’s story set to be wrapped up within eight seasons.

What those seasons will entail, though, is being kept firmly under wraps. Indeed, Broadbent’s casting is the first real hint of what’s in store, although sources would only confirm to EW that his role is “significant”.

The announcement, though, is par for the course, as the Oscar-winning actor, whose diverse career spans everything from Harry Potter to Brazil and Bullets Over Broadway, continues the programme’s tradition for signing famous British thesps. Indeed, Brian Cox told us recently that he had turned down a part in the series and regretted the decision.

The only other hint we’ve had of Thrones’ Season 7 is Maisie Williams’ reaction to reading the script, which she tweeted last month:

just finished reading season 7

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

shit gets REAL

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

i'd start preparing yourselves now

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

scratch that, nothing will prepare you for this

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

holy BALLS

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

So, to recap: Jim Broadbent. Holy balls. We’ll bring you more news as it happens.

 

Game of Thrones will end with Season 8, confirms HBO

31st July 2016

Game of Thrones will end with Season 8, HBO has officially announced, with Season 7 also set to arrive later than usual next year.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys confirmed that the HBO will follow the lead of the showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, in only having two more seasons of the fantasy epic, based on George R.R. Martin’s books.

“Yes, I think [they] have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do,” Bloys told the press. “If I could get them to do more, I would take 10 seasons but we want to take their lead with what they could do and what the best version of the show is.”

The news follows the renewal of the series for a shorter seventh season of seven episodes – down from the usual 10 – with produces envisioning 75 episodes in total for the programme. With Season 6 taking us to 60, that would leave eight episodes for Season 8. Those episodes are yet to be formally ordered, but Bloys admitted that a spin-off could be on the cards.

“We’ve talked about it,” he revealed. “It’s not something I’m opposed to but it has to make sense creatively. I’m not sure the guys can wrap their heads around it when they are about to start production. We’re open to it; the guys aren’t opposed to it, but there’s no concrete plans right now.”

Season 7 will also premiere at a later date than usual in 2017. Bloys added, with the fantasy show set to arrive in the summer, rather than March or April. Why? Because season seven will have to wait for winter to come until it can finish filming – a sign that the end times really are upon us.

Not caught up with the latest season yet? See our guide to where you can watch Game of Thrones online legally.
 

Game of Thrones showrunners confirm two more seasons to go

29th June 2016

It’s official: There are only two more seasons of Game of Thrones to go.

Warning: Spoilers below.

That might sound like sad news, given the Season 6 finale that’s just gone down, from the explosive Episode 10 to the bloody Episode 9, but David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, creators of HBO’s adaptation of George RR Martin’s novels, are in no mood to spin things out for longer than necessary – as Season 6 has proven, with its multiple-deaths-per-episode pacing, they have no problem cutting out unnecessary characters to get to where they need to go.

Now, that destination is in sight. Speaking to Deadline in a fantastic, in-depth interview, the pair confirm previous comments from director Jack Bender that there would only be seven episodes in Season 7, as well as reports that the show would only be continuing for another couple of runs.

“It’s two more seasons we’re talking about,” said Benioff.

“From pretty close to the beginning, we talked about doing this in 70-75 hours, and that’s what we’ll end up with. Call it 73 for now. What Dan says is really true, but it’s not just trying not to outstay your welcome. We’re trying to tell one cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end.”

Benioff said that they’ve got “got very specific ideas that have grown organically over the past six plus years about where everything will end up”.

“As Dan said, we’ve known the end for quite some time and we’re hurtling towards it,” he added.

“Those last images from the show that aired last night showed that. Daenerys is finally coming back to Westeros; Jon Snow is king of the North and Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. And we know the Night King is up there, waiting for all of them. The pieces are on the board now. Some of the pieces have been removed from the board and we are heading toward the end game. The thing that has excited us from the beginning, back to the way we pitched it to HBO is, it’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every season it’s trying to figure out new story lines. We wanted it to be one giant story, without padding it out to add an extra 10 hours, or because people are still watching it. We wanted to something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story. We’re definitely heading into the end game now.”

The bad news? There are 10 months until the end game continues. On the plus side, you can now download and own Game of Thrones Season 6 without having to wait for the DVD or Blu-ray and re-watch this latest run over and over again. Catch up with our spoilery reviews of the whole season here – or read the rest of Deadline’s excellent interview.

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