Entertainment
‘Game Of Thrones’: Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Others Get Big Salary Raise For Season 7, 8
- Christian Saclao , Design & Trend
- Jun, 21, 2016, 10:23 PM
Key "Game of Thrones" actors are reportedly getting massive salary raise for future seasons of the hit HBO series.
According to Deadline, series regulars Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) will all be paid north of $500,000 per episode for season 7 -- which has officially been ordered, and season 8, which is the potential final season of the series.
Although the salary increase helps keep the key cast for the series' final season, Deadline reported that the move does not guarantee that all five characters will survive the series as the show's last episodes are yet to be written. As for the other regulars who landed raises alongside the five actors in fall 2014, the website reported that their contracts have not been redone yet.
According to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva, 2014's "Game of Thrones" cast contract renegotiation netted close to $300,000 an episode for Harington, Clarke, Headey, Dinklage and Coster-Waldau heading into season 6 in exchange for the actors giving the network an option for a seventh season. In a similar way, the thespians are securing a new big salary increase for season 7 as they also sign on for a potential season 8.
In an interview with Variety last April, "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said that they are considering closing the epic saga with just 13 more episodes once season 6 is over: seven episodes for season 7 and six for season 8.
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"I think we're down to our final 13 episodes after this season. We're heading into the final lap," Benioff said. "That's the guess, though nothing is yet set in stone, but that's what we're looking at."
However, sources later clarified to the news outlet that the number of episodes that Benioff had mentioned were premature, claiming that the showrunners have just started to outline their plans for the final two seasons of the show.
HBO programming president Michael Lombardo confirmed at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour last January that the premium cable network was nearing a deal with Benioff and Weiss for another two-season renewal for the fantasy drama series.
"David and Dan are feeling there's probably two more years after season 6, that's what we're looking at right now. We hope that they would change their mind, but that's how they are feeling now," Lombardo said at the time.
"Game of Thrones" next episode, titled "The Winds of Winter," airs on Sunday, June 26, at 9 p.m. on HBO. Check out the synopsis and preview clip for the season finale below:
"Tyrion counsels Daenerys on the upcoming campaign; Jon and Sansa [Sophie Turner] discuss their future; and trials begin in King's Landing."
