The final season of Game of Thrones is expected to be epic, but it won’t be six-feature-length-films epic, according to information released by HBO regarding the running time of the season 8’s episodes.
Long rumored to be a season of full-length features that would close out the blockbuster series’ run, season 8 of Game of Thrones will actually clock in at an average episode length of 72 minutes. Although that’s longer than the show’s typical episode running time of under 60 minutes, it still falls short of the feature-length 90-120 minutes some reports indicated for the final six episodes of the series.
As initially reported by Entertainment Weekly, the running time for the final six episodes of Game of Thrones will max out at 82 minutes for episode 3, with the shortest episode — the season 8 premiere — clocking in at 54 minutes. HBO released a breakdown of running times and air dates for the season that offered the following information:
Season 8, episode 1
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, April 14
Estimated running time: 0:54
Season 8, episode 2
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, April 21
Estimated running time: 0:58
Season 8, episode 3
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, April 28
Estimated running time: 1:22
Season 8, episode 4
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, May 5
Estimated running time: 1:18
Season 8, episode 5
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, May 12
Estimated running time: 1:20
Season 8, episode 6
Debut date: 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday, May 19
Estimated running time: 1:20
The rumors regarding a season of feature-length episodes began circulating in earnest in January after HBO CEO Richard Plepler said of the season, “It’s a spectacle. The guys have done six movies.
“The reaction I had while watching them was, ‘I’m watching a movie.'” he continued.
Plepler’s comments now seem to have been a mix of hype and more of an assessment of the season’s cinematic tone, not its format. However, with both the cast and creative team indicating that the climactic battle that will decide the fates of the Game of Thrones characters will rival any movie sequence of that sort, there is reason to be optimistic that season 8 of Game of Thrones will still feel like a set of movies in one way or another.
Season 8 of Game of Thrones premieres April 14 on HBO.
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