Benioff and Weiss on planning for the end: “We’re coming around the bend right now.”

In the April edition of the magazine, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talk with Vanity Fair about the future of Game of Thrones, how many seasons they think the show will run and their collaboration with author George R.R. Martin.

In the new article, Weiss confirms that the show will likely last seven or eight seasons, as many have estimated. Neither Weiss, nor his writing partner Benioff have any desire to stretch the series out unnecessarily long. Benioff comments, “If you look at the shows that we love, it’s so rare for a series to go beyond that length and maintain quality,” and cites Breaking Bad‘s “smart choice” to end after only five seasons as an example.

Benioff elaborates:

If we’re a series and we’re four seasons, five seasons in, and it’s indefinite as to how long it’s gonna go, then I don’t think there’s as much pressure as far as, the end is coming, the end is nigh. So, for us, whether it ends up being seven or eight, it’s right around there. I think we’ve always felt — we just completed the fourth season — this is the midpoint. And we’re coming around the bend right now.

The showrunners discussed the fates of the characters with Martin recently, with an eye toward planning future seasons. It seems that as of now, some characters’ storylines remain more open than others. For more details, visit Vanity Fair to read the article.

UPDATE:  As of a few minutes ago, James Hibberd of EW is reporting that David Benioff has stated that seven seasons is the plan. Benioff goes on to say it’s the (unstated) goal they’ve had since the beginning, that “it feels right to us,” referencing “seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven seasons.” Seven is a key number in Westeros, of course, and it may be the magic number in the end for Game of Thrones.

• Published on 03/11/2014 at 9:09 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 12:43 PM CDT