‘Game of Thrones’ Creators Reveal How Many Episodes Are Left; Spinoff Series Explored

"Game of Thrones" only has two seasons left, and executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss have laid a plan for the remaining season of the show. Speaking at the SXSW festival, Benioff and Weiss revealed that "Game of Thrones" Season 8, the show's final outing, will only have six episodes.

"It's only going to be six episodes for the final season," Benioff told the audience, as quoted by EW. "From the beginning we've wanted to tell a 70-hour movie. It will turn out to be a 73-hour movie, but it's stayed relatively the same of having the beginning, middle and now we're coming to the end. It would have been really tough if we lost any core cast members along the way, I'm very happy we've kept everyone and we get to finish it the way we want to."

"Game of Thrones" Seasons 1 to 6 all had 10 episodes each. HBO changed things up a bit starting with "Game of Thrones" Season 7, which will air with only seven episodes. The decision to cut down the final two seasons is based on how far the creators can take the story.

According to Variety, Weiss and Benioff explained that a shorter run per season would allow them to spend more time on each episode. They said that they couldn't produce 10 episodes in the usual 12 to 14-month time frame.

Meanwhile, there are plans to extend the "Game of Thrones" hype by looking at a potential spinoff series. HBO head of programming Casey Bloys said that the cable network is considering the possibility of doing a "Game of Thrones" spinoff, saying it would be foolish if they didn't entertain the idea.

However, Benioff and Weiss will not be taking part in the spinoff series. However, Benioff suggested that it would be better if the "Game of Thrones" spinoff focused on "new blood" and a new setting, instead of utilizing surviving characters from the original show.

He added that George R.R. Martin has built a world filled with so many characters and rich, detailed history that there's bound to be one story that will succeed as a spinoff or prequel.

"Game of Thrones" Season 7 will premiere on July 16 on HBO.