Game of Thrones fans, Season 7 will not be coming for a very long time.
HBO on Monday confirmed that the drama’s seven-episode seventh season won’t premiere until Summer 2017 as a result of a winter-imposed production delay. The move will take Thrones out of the 2017 Emmy race, seeing as how the eligibility period ends on May 31 (first day of Summer 2017 is June 21).
Prior to this, Thrones‘ latest premiere date was April 24 (for the just-wrapped Season 6.)
“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” said HBO’s president of production, Casey Bloys, in a statement. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
Production on Thrones‘ seventh season will commence later this summer in Northern Ireland. Additional shooting locations include Spain and Iceland.
Season 7 directors will include Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Matt Shakman and Alan Taylor.
News of the delay, and subsequent awards-season fallout, comes in the wake of Thrones‘ scoring a leading 23 Emmy nominations, including best drama series.
