HBO has just renewed its hit series Game Of Thrones for a third season.
“Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss raised our expectations for the second season – and then surpassed them,” said Michael Lombardo, HBO’s programming president. “We are thrilled by all the viewer and media support we’ve received for the series and can’t wait to see what Dan and David have in store for next season.”
The renewal is following a ratings record-setting Season 2 premiere and strong week #2 hold. A total of 3.9 million viewers watched Season 2’s first show, which proved to be a 53 percent jump from its freshman season average and a 27 percent upward leap from the previous franchise series record, which was reached in last season’s finale. The second episode only dropped slightly, racking up 3.8 million viewers. In Hollywood, that feat in itself could be deemed protocol for an immediate renewal.
The amount of episodes for the third season hasn’t been ordered yet, but like previous seasons it will likely consist of 10 episodes. Creators of the show will have to alter the series a bit in order to fit the correct amount of information into the third season.
“A Storm of Swords is too long to fit in a single season,” said Weiss. “And as readers know, A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons take place during roughly the same time frame, so we’ll have to fold those together. The plan, if we’re lucky enough to be given the opportunity to see it through, is to use as many seasons as we need to tell the story as a whole, to do justice to George’s entire opus.”
Game Of Thrones is currently executive produced by Benioff, Weiss, Carolyn Strauss and Frank Doelger.
