‘Game of Thrones’ season 5: Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, more receive hefty raises

It appears as though you are going to be seeing all of the current “Game of Thrones” cast locked in for season 7, provided of course that none of these characters end up dying at some point in the process.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, many of the series regulars on the HBO show have just inked impressive new contracts that not only keep them on board the show until the aforementioned season, but score them significant pay raises in the process.

Negotiations reportedly took place within several tiers, with many of the actors in each one negotiating together. Within the top tier, for example, were Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Kit Harrington, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. They received the most significant raises, while actors such as Natalie Dormer, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and many others were in the second tier. There are other actors on the show, as well, who received some smaller raises that nonetheless keep them very locked in to the fold for a little while longer.

While “Game of Thrones” has to pay roughly the largest cast on TV, they have also shown over time now a capacity to be able to afford them. The series earlier this year passed “The Sopranos” to become the #1 show in HBO history, and it is a massive player in merchandising and DVD sales to go along with all of the ratings that it receives. With the network’s upcoming a la carte HBO GO service, the network may be able to monetize the show even further, and take away some of the piracy that has given it the distinction of being illegally downloaded more than any other program on TV.

We’ll have more on the new season, premiering next spring, very soon. For now, we recommend that you share what you think about this news in the comments, and click here to get some further TV updates sent right to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via HBO.)