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"Game of Thrones" final season could be longer than expected. It was previously reported that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were ready to end the series with 13 episodes, including seven episodes for the seventh season and six episodes for the eighth season. However, HBO's programming president Casey Bloys now hints that the final season could have more than six episodes.

Bloys says that the show's bosses are still mulling over how many hours the final season will run for. "They're still figuring out the shape of the season, what they want to do," Bloys tells EW. "I'll take as many as they want to do. If they give me eight, I'll want 10. But it's really up to them. They'll let me know."

Bloys also talks about a potential prequel series of "Thrones". "It's such a big property we would be foolish not to explore it, but it's a pretty high bar," he stresses, adding, "We'll take some shots at it. I'm not going to do it just to do it. It has to feel very special. I would rather have no sequel and leave it as-is then have something we rushed out."

But a prequel is more likely than a spin-off as Bloys shares, "A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it [than a spin-off]. [Author George R.R. Martin's history of Westeros] gives you areas in which to say to a writer, 'If you were going to do this, then go flesh it out,' and we'll see what comes back. But I don't feel any pressure that we have to have something."

"Game of Thrones" season 7 almost finishes the production in Iceland and will premiere this summer.