▁our ▁final ▁ 1 3 ▁episodes ▁after ▁this ▁season . ▁We ' re ▁heading ▁into ▁the ▁final ▁lap ". ▁Ben io ff ▁and ▁We iss ▁said ▁that ▁they ▁were ▁unable ▁to ▁produce ▁ 1 0 ▁episodes ▁in ▁the ▁series ' ▁usual ▁ 1 2 ▁to ▁ 1 4 - month ▁time frame , ▁as ▁We iss ▁explained , ▁" It ' s ▁crossing ▁out ▁of ▁a ▁television ▁schedule ▁into ▁more ▁of ▁a ▁mid - range ▁movie ▁schedule ." ▁H BO ▁confirmed ▁in ▁July ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁that ▁the ▁sevent h ▁season ▁would ▁consist ▁of ▁seven ▁episodes ▁and ▁would ▁premi ere ▁later ▁than ▁usual ▁in ▁mid - 2 0 1 7 ▁because ▁of ▁the ▁later ▁film ing ▁schedule . ▁Ben io ff ▁and ▁We iss ▁later ▁confirmed ▁that ▁the ▁e ighth ▁season ▁would ▁consist ▁of ▁six ▁episodes ▁and ▁would ▁premi ere ▁later ▁than ▁usual ▁for ▁the ▁same ▁reason . ▁ ▁Ben io ff ▁and ▁We iss ▁said ▁about ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁series : ▁" From ▁the ▁beginning , ▁we ' ve ▁wanted ▁to ▁tell ▁a ▁ 7 0 - hour ▁movie . ▁It ▁will ▁turn ▁out ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁ 7 3 - hour ▁movie , ▁but ▁it ' s ▁stayed ▁relatively ▁the ▁same ▁of ▁having ▁the ▁beginning , ▁middle [, ] ▁and ▁now ▁we ' re ▁coming ▁to ▁the ▁end . ▁It ▁would ▁have ▁been ▁really ▁t ough ▁if ▁we ▁lost ▁any ▁core ▁cast ▁members ▁along ▁the ▁way [ ; ] ▁I ' m ▁very ▁happy ▁we ' ve ▁kept