HBO Boss Talks Game Of Thrones Spinoffs And When Season 8 May Air

HBO's programming president, Casey Bloys, spoke to Entertainment Weekly for a wide-ranging discussion that touched on the Game of Thrones spinoffs and Season 8.

Regarding the spinoffs, of which five are in the works, Bloys stressed that it is very early days for these projects. Of the five projects being considered, Bloys said he would be happy if only one eventually gets made. One note here is that Bloys references four spinoffs in his answer, but author George R.R. Martin has said five are actually being considered.

"I wanted to make sure fans know this is a really embryonic process," Bloys told EW about the spinoffs. "I haven't even seen outlines. In the press at large, everybody said, 'There are four spinoffs' and they assume that means each one is happening and we're going to have a new Game of Thrones show per quarter. That's not what's going on.

"The idea is not to do four shows. The bar set by [showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] is so high that my hope is to get one show that lives up to it," he added. "Also, this is a long-term plan. Our No. 1 goal is the seventh season this summer and getting the eighth season written and aired."

This echoes what Martin himself said last month, when he made it clear that the spinoffs are not a lot more than ideas alone at this stage.

Bloys went on to say that the epic size of the Game of Thrones universe sets it apart from other franchises.

"You couldn't do this with a lot of shows," Bloys said about developing as many as five spinoffs. "The fact that there’s enough material to even contemplate making different prequels is crazy when you think about it. George has all these histories he's thought about and that's one reason why the books are so good."

Bloys also assured fans that whatever Game of Thrones spinoff eventually gets made--if it does ever happen--will be a high-quality production worthy of the franchise's name.

"I want to make sure that [any prequel] feels worthy," he said. "We have some amazing writers who want to take a shot at this. They're also looking at different times in the universe and all will have different feels. This increases our odds of finding one that's unique."

Also in the interview, Bloys said basically everything is on the table in terms of format, including a limited-run series.

Switching to Game of Thrones Season 8, Bloys said it's possible the final season could air in 2018 or 2019. The timing hasn't been decided yet. "They have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule. We'll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing."

The ful interview is very fascinating and is packed with interesting insight--read it here.

Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres in July--you can watch the newest trailer here.