Game Of Thrones Season 8 Teaser Confirms Premiere Month

It has been confirmed that the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones will premiere in April 2019. This brings the series back in line with the premieres of season 4, 5, and 6, following Season 7's July 2017 debut.

The news was revealed in a new teaser tweeted by HBO. The video doesn't contain any footage from the new season, and we don't yet have the exact date that it will premiere. But it's an exciting reminder of all the main characters and promises that the new season will be a spectacular one. Check it out above.

This teaser follows the lengthy cover feature which Entertainment Week published earlier this month, that contained plenty of tidbits about the final season. While HBO has been extremely protective of spoilers and secrets, showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff did give a few hints about what we can expect. They revealed that the opening of Season 8 will mirror that of Season 1, with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) riding to Winterfell with her armies in preparation for the arrival of the Army of the Dead. This is a deliberate call all the way back to the first episode in 2011.

In addition, Jon Snow actor Kit Harington spoke about the full table read of Season 8's scripts. He stated that Benioff and Weiss started the session by asking the cast members to avoid doing anything that might give away any of the new season's secrets, no matter how small. Harington then revealed that the scripts made him cry twice.

EW have also revealed that at one stage Benioff and Weiss were considering finishing the show with three theatrical movies rather than six episodes. Season 8 will contain the biggest battle of the show's history, and the pair were concerned that HBO's budget might not allow them to do what they wanted.

In related news, production is set to begin the prequel spin-off show next year. Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin stated on his blog that the series, which is co-written with Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Kingsmen) will be titled The Long Night. However, he subsequently denied that this was the title, writing that "HBO has informed me that the Jane Goldman pilot is not (yet) titled THE LONG NIGHT. That is certainly the title I prefer, but for the moment the pilot is still officially UNTITLED. So… mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa."