Game of Thrones season 8 was originally meant to be 3 movies akin to Lord of the Rings trilogy

HBO instead coughed up huge sums for the final six episodes

Game of Thrones’ final season is beginning to feel within reaching distance.

The upcoming batch of episodes should drop within the next six months and will conclude HBO’s flagship series once and for all (until the spin-off prequel series, of course).

Fans have known for some time that, unlike the majority of Game of Thrones seasons which usually consist of 10 episodes, the final will be comprised of just six.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners David Benioff and D B Weiss revealed that the original plan was to release three movies, akin to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for the final season.

“It’s what we’re working towards in a perfect world,” Weiss said. “We end up with an epic fantasy story but with the level of familiarity and investment in the characters that are normally impossible in a two-hour movie.“

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Unfortunately, the heads of HBO quickly shot down the idea, deciding to avoid box-office risk and opting to instead serve their paying subscribers. They did, however, promise the duo everything they needed to create “a summer tentpole-size spectacle,” with the final cost of each episode rumoured to be $15 million.

“They put their money where their mouths are — literally stuffed their mouth full of million-dollar bills, which don’t exist anymore,” Weiss said.

In other Game of Thrones news, the first image from the upcoming final season has been released, featuring Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow embracing.

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