The last season of Game of Thrones is approaching, and HBO has announced who will be at the helm for its final days — this includes the two guys who brought A Song of Ice and Fire to life in the first place.
Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO
According to a post in The Hollywood Reporter, Miguel Sapochnik and David Nutter will be joining showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss in directing the final six episodes of Game of Thrones. Nutter has previously directed six episodes of Game of Thrones, starting in season two, including one of the most famous episodes of the series, “The Rains of Castamere”. Sapochnik hasn’t been around as long, but he’s become an iconic part of the show, directing the action-packed episodes “Hardhome”, “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter”. Neither director was present last season.
The big surprise is that Benioff and Weiss are coming on board to direct in the final season, given that they have only directed two episodes since the series began: Season four’s premiere “Two Swords”, which wasn’t a crazy memorable episode, and season three’s “Walk of Punishment”, which remains a highly regarded episode in the franchise. Sources reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter that Benioff and Weiss, as a team, will be co-directing the series finale.
Sapochnik and Nutter are both talented directors, and it will be interesting to see what Weiss and Benioff do behind the camera to conclude their saga. But it is disappointing that there will officially have been only one female director during the entire run of Game of Thrones, and even she (Michelle MacLaren) won’t be returning for the final curtain call. Given how the series has worked so hard to grow and progress its female characters, it’s been a mistake to not have more women visually convey those stories as those curtains draw to a close.
HBO is currently in pre-production for the final season of Game of Thrones. No release date has been announced.