'Game of Thrones' season 8: Expect a lot of deaths

There will be a lot of deaths in “Game of Thrones” season 8. During a panel discussion at the INTV conference in Israel, HBO executives teased what it was like for cast members during the script read-through, and how they all reacted to the death scenes.

Many of the characters on the show are already dead. The storylines are all coming together for those who remain, but the deaths will still continue.

HBO SVP of drama Francesca Orsi teased the reaction of the cast members during the script read-through that took place in Belfast last year, The Hollywood Reporter reports. None of the actors was apparently given the scripts beforehand; they all found out what happens right then and there.

“It was a really powerful moment in our lives and our careers,” Orsi said. The actors read one death after another, Orsi said. All were reportedly in tears by the time they finished reading the last few words of the script. Afterwards, there was applause that lasted 15 minutes.

“It was amazing,” Orsi said. “By the very end, everyone looked down and looked up and tears were in their eyes.”

Just how many more will die? Who will remain standing by the end of the wars? Viewers will have to wait and watch the show to find out.

While this is the last season of the show, fans can still look forward to more stories based on Westeros. HBO is planning a few spin-off series. It isn’t clear how many shows will be greenlighted at the moment. Orsi revealed that the budget for the spin-offs will be more than US$50 million (about AU$63 million) per season. The budget is bigger than that for the first few seasons of “Game of Thrones.”