‘Game of Thrones’ season 5: George R.R. Martin on HBO’s hopes to prolong show

Even though “Game of Thrones” does not premiere for almost a whole month on April 12, that is certainly not stopping the news cycle from talking about a variety of different highlights … including just how long the series could last.

As we told you earlier in the week, HBO is considering trying to find a way to extend the life of the show. They’d love to see it happen, given that this is the most-successful series in the network’s history. The problem here is that there are only seven books planned in the George R.R. Martin series, and you may have to get creative since the contracts for many actors only run through season 7.

So what does Martin himself have to say about some of this chatter? The author wrote recently on his Not a Blog page, and explained that even he is still in the dark about when the show will end:

“I do know that David & Dan have stated in interviews that they see the show winding up in seven seasons … I also know that HBO wants the series to run longer than that. I have known that since the very beginning… well, actually, since the day after the second episode of season one aired, when I had lunch with one of HBO’s top execs, who told me, ‘We want this to run ten years.’ I allowed that ten years sounded fine to me. I continue to hear similar sentiments from HBO every time I have meeting with them, be it in L.A. or New York.”

We feel like it may be season 6 before we start to really hear what HBO wants to do with the future of the show, mostly because there are still so many mysteries in the air. For example, still nobody knows what the show is going to do about catching up to the book series faster than Martin can write.

Do you think the show should just call it a day after season 7? Share with a comment, and head over here to get some other TV news sent over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: HBO.)