Maisie Williams Just Confirmed That 'Game of Thrones' Will Return in April 2019
Let the countdown begin.

Details about Game of Thrones' eighth and final season remain slim. The only thing fans do know for certain is this single, grim fact: It won't return until 2019. But Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) just graced us with a little more info. Season 8 will actually premiere in April.
"We wrap in December and we air our first episode in April [2019]," she said in a recent interview with Metro (opens in new tab).
That means GoT fans will have to wait at least 15 months from today to see the new episodes, but according to Williams, the production value will make it worth the wait.
"That’s a four-month turnaround for these huge episodes," she continued. "There’s a lot that goes into the final edit. You would not want to rush this season at all. We owe it to our audience and our fans to really do this final season to the best of our abilities."
HBO officially confirmed the show's 2019 air date earlier this month, after Williams' costar Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) first dropped hints (opens in new tab) in December. The network also confirmed which directors are signed on for the season: showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, David Nutter (who helmed the "Red Wedding" episode) and Miguel Sapochnik (who directed "Battle of the Bastards").
Send a raven.#GameofThrones returns to @HBO for its eighth and final season in 2019: https://t.co/FpWV0O0L9iJanuary 4, 2018
GoT appears to be returning to its usual airing schedule with the April premiere date. Its previous seasons have historically kicked off in March or April, with the exception of Season 7, which debuted in July. The reason for the delay? The cast and crew started filming later than usual because they were, literally, waiting for winter to come (opens in new tab).
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
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