Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere date and duration officially confirmed

HBO confirmed the rumors today when it announced the premiere date and duration of Game of Thrones Season 8. Although there are no spoilers, if you don't want to know the premiere date and duration of each episode in advance, don't read on.

Season 8 Episode 1

Premiere time: Monday, April 15, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Episode duration: 54 minutes

Season 8 Episode 2

Premiere time: Monday, April 22, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Episode duration: 58 minutes

Season 8 Episode 3

Premiere time: Monday, April 29, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Length of each episode: 60 minutes

Season 8 Episode 4

Premiere time: Monday, May 6, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Episode duration: 78 minutes

Season 8 Episode 5

Premiere time: Monday, May 13, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Length of each episode: 80 minutes

Season 8 Episode 6

Premiere time: Monday, May 20, 9:00 a.m. (Beijing time)

Length of each episode: 80 minutes

As you can see, as the plot of this season gradually unfolds, the longer the episodes are, but this is already the norm for Game of Thrones. The last episode of Season 7 was nearly 80 minutes long, making it the longest episode of Game of Thrones so far.

All told, Season 8 is six hours and 50 minutes long, slightly shorter than the total running time of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Previously, the finale of Season 7 set a record for HBO's viewership, with 16.5 million viewers watching the show on the night of its premiere. So the next step is to see whether the return premiere of Season 8 can break its own record again.