HBO confirms a seven-episode season 7 of Game of Thrones airing next summer

Castillo de Almodóvar del Río

HBO has just released their plans for season seven of Game of Thrones. It is now official that the episode count for next year stands at seven episodes. The filming is slated for “later this summer.” We already knew that the beginning of the season 7 production will take place later than usual, and the new season is to premiere in “summer 2017”. No specific date has been given yet.

“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” HBO programming president Casey Bloys says. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

The press release confirms Spain and Iceland as overseas locations (with Northern Ireland as the base, naturally). More specifically for Spain, it lists the following sites: Sevilla, Caceres, Almodovar del Rio, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo.

Sevilla most likely refers to the returning location of the Real Alcázar, which stands in for Dorne’s Water Gardens.

Almodovar del Rio is a small city located in Córdoba province; most likely Game of Thrones is headed for the 1300-year-old Muslim castle found in the city, pictured at the top. As we reported in early June, the show was scouting several locations for old castles for season 7 and the Castillo de Almodóvar del Río is a beautiful one.

As for Zumaia, Game of Thrones’ interest in the city and in its Itzurun Beach was noted in late June.

Caceres. Photo: UNESCO.org

Santiponce is in Sevilla province. Most notably, the city contains the ruins of Italica, a preserved Roman settlement. There’s an amphitheater pit and mosaics among the ruins.

Among its attractions, Cáceres has an Old Town of its own, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Old Town has a number of buildings, narrow streets, and plazas that would serve well as settings for Game of Thrones‘s inner cities.

Bermeo is more of a question mark. The coastal Basque city could serve a number of purposes for the show, with their own beaches, old quarters and structures that might do nicely as part of Game of Thrones.

Not so surprising to have confirmation the season 7 premiere is officially bumped to summer, but it’s good to have word from HBO! What do you all think of the new locations? What might they be for season 7?

The post HBO confirms a seven-episode season 7 of Game of Thrones airing next summer appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.

Via http://watchersonthewall.com