Fans spent nearly two agonizing years waiting for the return of “Game of Thrones,” and when it finally returned on Sunday night, millions of them tuned in — and set yet another ratings record for the hit HBO series.
The premium cable outlet released viewership numbers for the season eight premiere episode on Monday afternoon, tallying how many people watched the series both live and over the course of the night, including those who streamed the episode. In what’s becoming a trend for “Thrones,” the installment broke the show’s own ratings record for highest number of viewers, tallying 17.4 million at last count. That bests the previous record, 16.9 million, set with the season seven finale in 2017.
And Sunday’s premiere wasn’t just good news for “Thrones,” but HBO in general, with the episode becoming the most-watched telecast in HBO history. It also secured the title of the most-watched installment of any scripted TV series to air so far in 2019, easily beating out previous champ “The Big Bang Theory,” which pulled in and its 14.1 million viewers from February 7. That’s certainly no small feat, since HBO is available in far fewer households than broadcast stalwart CBS.
It truly seems like the sky’s the limit for “Thrones,” which continues to break its own records and grow in total viewership each season. There’s no telling how high ratings will soar when the season — and series — finale rolls around.
Death has many faces — and they’re coming for Winterfell.
After the premiere of “Game of Thrones” Season 8, HBO released a trailer for the still-untitled second episode of the final season.
The trailer features Jaime Lannister, who arrived at Winterfell in the last moments of the premiere, facing a tribunal including Daenerys Targaryen and Sansa Stark. Both women have grievances to hold against Jaime — he murdered Dany’s father, Mad King Aerys, and he has repeatedly targeted the Stark family since Season 1 when he pushed Bran Stark out of the tower window.
The trailer also hints that the Night King’s army is fast approaching, with Jon Snow worried asking wildling ally Tormund, “How long do we have?” Will the combined forces gathered at Winterfell be able to beat back the dead?
Ahead of the hit HBO fantasy drama’s April 14 premiere date, star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) opened up about some turmoil we’ll see her character embroiled in when the show returns. Specifically, she teased tension among House Stark during a recent Entertainment Weekly interview. It seems Sansa will be less than pleased to learn that her half-brother (but actual cousin) Jon Snow (Kit Harington) has bent the knee to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).
Jon’s new allegiance to Daenerys will cause “a huge amount of fighting” between him and Sansa, Turner said. The actress added that her character is considers Daenerys “power-hungry and not the rightful queen.” Meanwhile, we know Sansa is capable of her own maneuvering to hold onto power — and that is just what she’ll do. Turner teased that she “has to go behind a few backs and risks tearing apart her family.”
Watching these new dynamics at play will be fascinating, especially when the Army of the Dead is bearing down on them. But, alas, there isn’t much of the show left; we’re headed into the final six episodes.
“Game of Thrones” Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
Never let it be said that James Corden isn’t a tough taskmaster.
Ahead of the “Game of Thrones” Season 8 premiere, the “Late Late Show” host got one of his writers, Lawrence Dai, to watch all seven previous seasons back-to-back. It made for a grueling 67-hour marathon — and a funny seven(ish)-minute video for Corden’s show.
The late-night host aired footage from Dai’s experience, which started around 10 a.m. on a Friday and ended around 8:30 a.m. the following Monday. Although rough for Dai, it is a fun walk down memory lane for “Game of Thrones” fans. Through the writer’s experience and reflections, we get to remember the highs and lows of watching the show. Watch below.
The binge was definitely not easy. We’d agree that we “just don’t know if this is the way it’s meant to be watched.” But what a hero Dai is for enduring it.
“Game of Thrones” premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. “The Late Late Show with James Corden” airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. ET/PT.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gets her own biopic, with Felicity Jones playing the younger version of the pioneering legal icon. As a woman and young mother, the struggling attorney faces numerous obstacles in her fight for equal rights. When Ruth takes on a groundbreaking tax case with her husband, attorney Martin Ginsburg (Armie Hammer), she knows it could gender discrimination laws forever.
The movie arrives on Blu-ray, and DVD on April 9 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include three behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Based on a true story, the movie centers on Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell), a man who loses much of his memory after being nearly beaten to death. He copes with the physical, mental, and emotional trauma by building a 1/6-scale World War II-era Belgian town in his yard, populated by dolls representing himself, his friends, and even his attackers.
The movie arrives on Blu-ray, and DVD on April 9 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include deleted scenes and making-of featurettes.
The Razzie winner for Worst Picture teams up Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in a truly heinous take on the Sherlock Holmes stories. How two such great actors ended up in this is truly the mystery that needs solving.
The movie arrives on Blu-ray, and DVD on April 9 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include deleted scenes, an improv reel, and featurettes.
A puppy named Bella becomes separated from her beloved owner Lucas and finds herself on an epic, 400-mile journey to reunite with him. Along the way, the lost but spirited dog touches the lives of an orphaned mountain lion, a down-on-his-luck veteran and some friendly strangers who happen to cross her path.
The movie arrives on Blu-ray, and DVD on April 9 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include deleted scenes and making-of featurettes.
The Oscar-nominated animated film is a whimsical, dreamy tale that begins with 4-year-old Kun meeting his new baby sister, Mirai. Kun gets jealous and storms off into the garden, where he meets strange guests from the past and future — including his Mirai as a teenager. Together, the siblings go on a journey through time and space.
The movie arrives on Blu-ray, and DVD on April 9 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include interviews and making-of featurettes.
‘Stranger Than Paradise’ (April 9): Criterion releases Jim Jarmusch’s breakout 1984 film, a minimalist masterpiece which established the director as an exciting new voice on the indie scene. The film follows the rootless Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and his visiting teen cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) as they drift from New York’s Lower East Side to Lake Erie to Florida, always managing to make the least of wherever they end up. The release’s high-tech digital restoration was supervised by Jarmusch himself.
The lives of six troubled teens in a racially-divided town take a violent turn when drugs and broken hearts intermix. Available on Digital HD. Watch an exclusive clip from the movie below:
Nicole Kidman got a Golden Globe nomination for her transformative performance as a cop named Erin Bell, who is placed into a moral and existential crisis. As a young cop, she went undercover with a gang in the California desert with tragic results. When the gang’s leader re-emerges many years later, she’s forced to face her past and the demons that still haunt her.
Six strangers enter an escape room hoping to have a good time. But what starts out as a fun experience soon turns into a living nightmare as they realize the room is a trap that is part of a sadistic game of life or death.
NEW ON NETFLIX
‘You vs. Wild’ (April 10)
This interactive survival show uses the same technology as “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” to allow viewers to make choices within each of the eight episodes. So, they can control what Bear Grylls (Discovery’s “Man vs. Wild”) does as he treks across jungles, mountains, deserts, and forests — and whether or not he succeeds in his quest for survival.
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’s” dreamy breakout Noah Centineo is about to make everyone fall for him again. This time, he plays a high schooler poised to attend an Ivy League school — if only he could afford it. After he takes Celia (Laura Marano) on a date for some cash, he gets the idea to start his own dating service.
Jane, Kat and Sutton return to New York City and deal with the aftermath of some major decisions they made in Paris. They also have to deal with Scarlet’s new male digital executive.
‘Fosse/Verdon’ Miniseries Premiere, FX (April 9, `0 p.m.)
The limited series explores the often-fraught romantic and creative partnership between visionary choreographer and filmmaker Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, the greatest Broadway dancer of all time.
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere, HBO (April 14, 9 p.m.)
“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” The final season of the last piece of monoculture remaining is finally here.
“Game of Thrones” is coming to an end soon, winding down the last piece of monoculture we have left. Or maybe not the last, since HBO already has one spinoff in the works.
And according to “Saturday Night Live’s” imagining, many more could follow it.
“Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington hosted this past weekend’s episode. His Jon Snow is at the center of a “sexy, moody drama about forbidden love” — with a White Walker. Sure, she’s dead, but he was once dead, too!
“That was different, and you know it!” he replies. Men, amirite?
There’s also an animated series with Arya navigating high school, a family sitcom with Sam and Gilly, and — the best one — “Game of Thrones: Special Victims Unit.”
From producer “Dire Wolf,” the preview shows Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T patrolling around Flea Bottom, discussing the latest gruesome murder. Someone gouged a guy’s eyes out and fed them to him? Bingo. Just another day in the mean streets of King’s Landing.
Like her “Game of Thrones” character, Daenerys Targaryen, Emilia Clarke does what she wants. The actress admitted Tuesday on “The Late Show” that she revealed the ending to someone.
HBO has worked hard to maintain the secrecy surrounding the show’s final season, but the Mother of Dragons couldn’t resist telling her own mother the ending. When Stephen Colbert asked if she’d told anyone, Clarke explained to him what happened.
“I wasn’t supposed to — soz, lads,” she said, adding in a not-so sincere-sounding apology. “I told my mum.”
Funnily enough, though, her mother has already forgotten how the story unfolds — even after getting to read one of the scenes. Clarke said they were talking about it later, and her mom had no recollection of what she’d learned. Now, unluckily for her, she’s in the same boat as the rest of us: waiting for the series finale to air. Clarke said she didn’t want to tell her a second time.
Watch below. Clarke also shares her feelings about the series ending, their wrap parties, and why co-star Kit Harington can’t complain about his costume. “Game of Thrones” talk starts at the 3:38-mark.
“Game of Thrones” Season 8 premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
