Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have shared their original pitch for wrapping up the mammoth HBO fantasy show.
The first six seasons had 10 episodes each, but seasons 7 and 8 were shorter at seven and six episodes, respectively. However, Benioff and Weiss have revealed to WSJ Magazine that, instead of the final two seasons, they wanted to do a trilogy of movies.
They were shut down by executives, who told them that HBO stands for 'Home Box Office'.
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The shot-down pitches went both ways, however, as executives from AT&T (the phone company that owned Warner Bros, which still owns HBO) wanted the show to be filmed vertically for watching on phones.
AT&T also wanted there to be "snackable" bite-sized episodes of Thrones created for mobile viewers to watch.
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Speaking about the environment that led to behind-the-scenes clashes at the time, Weiss said: "Dysfunction kills more projects than anything else, whether it’s interpersonal dysfunction or institutional dysfunction."
Benioff added: "When you sign a five-year deal with a company, you want that company to be stable so you can be left alone to do your work and not have to worry about it being bought by the phone company.
"Finding the smoothest ride in the ocean was key."
Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 are available on DVD and Blu-ray. House of the Dragon airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
