Game of Thrones could be delayed until 2019

Game of Thrones fans ought to be used by now to release dates shuffling around the calendar, with its upcoming seventh season delayed by several months due to production issues, and George R.R. Martin's perpetual dithering delaying the releases of the sixth and seventh volumes in the original Game of Thrones book series.

So while it won't come as an enormous surprise to hear the show's eighth and final season might be delayed, it'll likely still infuriate.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed that they cannot promise the final six-episode season will indeed be broadcast this time next year, and that it is too early to tell what delays they might encounter behind the scenes.

"We honestly don't know yet," Benioff said. "There's been a lot of back and forth about air dates. That's a long way off from being settled."

The pair also confirmed that they were still writing the final six episodes, but were cautious to say that they're nearly finished.

"It's exciting but there's always pressure," Benioff continued. "You don't ever want to drop the ball."

For hardcore fans of the show, a potential 2019 release date for its final season won't come as a huge bombshell, particularly with HBO programming chief Casey Bloys warning earlier this month to Entertainment Weekly that they are giving Benioff and Weiss breathing room to dictate their own work schedule.

"They have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule," he said. "We'll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing."

For a positive spin on the news, Bloys said that a major explanation for a potential delay is to make the show's final six episodes "more cinematic" than ever before.

"The show has proven that TV is every bit as impressive and in many cases more so, than film," he explained.

"What they're doing is monumental. When you see these battles in season seven, and what I imagine season eight will be, it's a big, big show. We've done a lot of great shows, but this one combines the complex characters we love with a huge cinematic scope."