UPDATE: Aug. 26, 1:10 p.m. ET â A rep from HBO told HuffPost that an airdate for âGame of Thronesâ hasnât been announced, but as Casey Bloys said, the show will be appearing in the first half of 2019, despite VFX going into May.
EARLIER: Winter is coming ... possibly with a little bit of a delay.
Earlier this year, rumor had it that âGame of Thronesâ Season 8 would begin airing sometime in April 2019. The gossip started with a quote Maisie Williams allegedly gave Metro in the U.K., which she later denied. Still, fans hopped on the date and rally around it to this day.
And, hey, a release earlier in the year makes sense. HBOâs president of programming, Casey Bloys, said the show would be premiering in the first half of 2019. And in order to qualify for the Emmy Awards in â19, a series must air between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019. So if HBO wanted the final season of âGame of Thronesâ to be considered in the next Emmys, it would have to air before the end of May.
Alas, Iâm here to tell you, our April watch may have ended.
In an interview with HuffPost, âGame of Thronesâ visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer discussed the showâs Emmy hopes (itâs nominated for 22 awards at the 2018 ceremony) as well as its future eligibility. âIn two years weâll be eligible for the Season 8 work,â he said, âwhich weâre just beginning now.â
Thatâs right. He said the show will be eligible for the 2020 Emmys, not the 2019 Emmys, meaning it would be airing the bulk of its expected six episodes after the 2019 deadline: May 31.
âWeâre going to be toiling away on Season 8 until May of 2019, so itâs eight or nine months away,â he added. âBut the prequel is starting to shoot in February, at least the pilot. So weâll still have quite a lot to do on Season 8 when theyâre beginning.â
Bauer said heâs blocked off his schedule until next May for âGame of Thronesâ effects work. âSo much of it comes down to timing and all that stuff. The situation changes every week. I know Iâm not doing anything else but âThronesâ until May of next year.â
The Emmys do make some exceptions. While May 31 is always the cut-off date, âhanging episodesâ that air after that time can be considered for the previous cycleâs Emmys.
âIf an ongoing series has enough episodes (six or more) in the current eligibility year to qualify as a series, but has one or more episodes, including the season/series finale, airing after May 31, those âhanging episodesâ that are part of the seasonâs contiguous rollout on the same distribution platform will join the six or more eligible episodes of the series, as long as the hanging episodes air prior to the first-round voting deadline,â a representative of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences told HuffPost.
For the 2018 Emmys, the voting deadline was June 25, so shows like âWestworld,â which aired its finale on June 24, will still qualify in their entirety.
With the prospect that âGame of Thronesâ Season 8 wonât be eligible for the Emmys until two years from now, itâs safe to assume that the majority of its episodes wonât air before May 31. Since Bauer said his effects team is going to be working into May, it seems late May is the earliest Season 8 could premiere.
But weâd guess a release date of at least June or maybe July is more feasible. After all, Season 7 premiered in July 2017.
As long as HBO doesnât make us watch a block of ice melt again for the release date (like they did for Season 7), weâre cool with that. That nightmare wouldâve scared even the White Walkers.