Game of Thrones S7 to have just seven episodes, won’t air until summer 2017

In a double blow for fans of the series, HBO has confirmed that the next season of Game of Thrones will be shorter and arrive later than its predecessors.
The US network has announced Season 7 will be only seven episodes long, as opposed to the usual ten.
Also, the premiere won’t take place in April, as has been the case throughout the run. Instead, filming will begin soon with a summer 2017 release planned.
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As rumoured earlier this month, the producers are waiting for some of its European filming locations to resemble the fabled winter that is finally coming.
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“Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
With S7 being the penultimate season in the show’s epic run, season 8 is also expected to have just seven episodes. That would get the producers closer to their long-held target of 75 hours in total.