Looks like this game is going into overtime, as The Hollywood Reporter reveals the cast of “Game of Thrones” has just negotiated a new option for a seventh season with HBO which will make them among the highest paid actors on cable TV.
Although “Game of Thrones” was renewed in April through season 6, HBO decided to hedge their bets by adding the option, which does not guarantee a seventh season will be greenlit but will still allow for huge raises for seasons 5 and 6. Said raises were doled out on a tier system, with the “A” tier of Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) receiving the biggest uptick.
The not-so-tactfully named “B” tier includes co-stars Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) will not earn as much as the big guns in “A” tier but will still score raises higher than a third tier of regular actors who will receive much smaller pay increases.
While this is great news for the stars and their management, what does this mean for fans of the Westeros saga? Author George R.R. Martin is still working on the sixth of seven books in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” cycle titled “The Winds of Winter” (publication date unknown) and with his tendency to kill off characters without mercy there is very little job security when it comes to future seasons. As it is, 2015’s season 5 will cover elements from both “A Feast for Crows” and “A Dance with Dragons,” and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are working with Martin to outline future continuity that has yet to see publication.
Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” is currently filming for a 2015 premiere date on HBO, and will include new cast members Alexander Siddig, Toby Sebastian, Nell Tiger Free, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Jessica Henwick, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, DeObia Oparei, Jonathan Pryce, Hannah Waddingham, Enzo Cilenti, Michael Condron, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
