'Game of Thrones' Season 7 to start production at a later time than usual. (Photo : Getty Images/Charles McQuillan)
Avid fans of HBO's hit TV series "Game of Thrones" will have a longer wait before Season 7 hits the small screens. A latest report has revealed the show's expected Season 7 premiere timeline, including some of the planned filming locations for the series.
HBO's president of programming Casey Bloys has announced that "Game of Thrones" Season 7 will premiere in the summer of 2017, Variety reported. This is several months later than the show's usual release date that typically happens in the second quarter of the year. Bloys explained that the delay is due to the series' production and filming schedule.
The HBO executive mentioned that showrunners are looking to take advantage of the changing weather to film the series' upcoming season. With the expected winter setting of Season 7, the cast and crew will start production activities at a later time than previous seasons.
The "Game of Thrones" team will also be heading to Northern Ireland to film many of the scenes for the upcoming new season. Although other scenes will be shot in Iceland and Spain, as indicated in the same report. The HBO series seventh season will also feature a shorter episode count. Instead of the usual 10 episodes, the new season will only have 7 episodes.
Bloy's statement on the late production schedule also seconded what showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have both shared during a UFC Unfiltered podcast held in early July, Entertainment Weekly reported. Weiss stated that a sunny weather would not be a good fit for the show's upcoming new season. Loyal viewers may recall that the Season 6 finale teased that winter would be coming to series' Season 7.
He also commented that they pushed the filming schedule to a later time so they could capture the natural change in the season. Weiss shared that they are looking for some "grim, gray weather" for the HBO show's seventh season. Both showrunners are hoping that the delayed production start will yield a less than sunny weather even in the usual filming locations that they use.
Meanwhile, watch some of the exciting events that transpired in the Season 6 finale below:
