“Seven seasons and out has never been the [internal] conversation,” EW reports HBO programming president Michael Lombardo as having said. “The question is, ‘How much beyond seven are we going to do?’ Obviously we’re shooting six now, hopefully discussing seven. [Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are] feel like there’s two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds, but that’s what we’re looking at right now.”
Questions were also raised at the panel regarding a potential prequel series. While there are no plans currently on the table for such a show, Lombardo doesn’t rule out the possibility.
“[T]here’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel,” he admitted, “if [George R.R. Martin] and Dan and David decide they want to tackle that. At this point, all the focus is on the next few years of the show. We haven’t had any conversations about that at this point.”
Lombardo also reminded the audience that a fan-favorite character who passed away in the series five finale has, indeed, rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.
“Dead is dead is dead,” Lombardo said. “He be dead. Everything I’ve seen, heard and read, [the character in question] is indeed dead.”
