HBO Chief: The Final Season Of ‘Game Of Thrones’ Is Like Watching ‘Six Movies’

It’s one of the most tired clichés of the Peak TV-era, the idea of a season of television as a 10-hour movie (or an entire series as a 73-hour movie, which frankly sounds awful). We’ve written (and complained) about it multiple times), but sometimes, it’s an apt claim. For instance, there’s been rumblings that the final season of Game of Thrones will have “six feature-length episodes,” but there’s been no official word from HBO. At least, not until after the Golden Globes (where notably the network shared footage from season eight, as well as Watchmen).

“It’s a spectacle. [Co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] have done six movies. The reaction I had while watching them was, I’m watching a movie,” HBO chief Richard Plepler told Variety. “They knew the bar was high. They’ve exceeded the bar. I’ve watched them twice without any CGI and I’m in awe. Everybody’s in for an extraordinary treat of storytelling and of magical, magical production.” (Related: please release the pre-CGI cut, HBO.)

So, Game of Thrones season eight isn’t a 10-hour movie — it’s a six-plus-hour movie. Anyway, 2019 is a big year for HBO, not only with the return of Thrones, which premieres in April, but also new seasons of Barry, Veep, True Detective, Big Little Lies, and the debuts of Watchmen, Lovecraft Country, and Euphoria.