It seems rumors that the stars of HBO‘s Game of Thrones received a large pay raise for signing onto the show’s seventh season may have been greatly exaggerated.
Liam Cunningham, the Irish actor who plays Ser Davos Seaworth on the hit show, is aware of the rumors and seems to find them both absurd and amusing.
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“What?! You think Game of Thrones works like a pensionable job in the civil service? Where the last men standing get the most money? It doesn’t!” the actor joked while speaking to The Independent. “Every time I see a new figure thrown around —€1m per episode, €2m per episode— I burst me ribs laughing. My bank manager is having a good laugh at it, too.”
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Cunningham goes on to explain that the confusion seems to stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of how an international production like Game of Thrones works.
“It is not filmed in the States; if you had an American deal, there would be a lot more ‘residuals’ so you can’t compare shows that are filmed here to shows that are filmed over there,” Cunningham explained. “And if what they are saying is true – that the top 10 stars are getting €2m per episode – then that means it’s costing €20m an episode before you even buy one costume or write one word of script. That’s more than Star Wars!”
When it’s put like that, the rumored cost of those contracts does seem exorbitant even for HBO.
Season seven is the penultimate season of Game of Thrones, but that doesn’t mean HBO is finished with the franchise yet. The premium cable network recently announced that it has commissioned four separate scripts to be developed as possible Game of Thrones spinoffs.
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While Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff will receive some credit for any show that makes it to air, both have already stated that they will not be involved in any proactive ways with any possible spinoffs.
Based on the popular book series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, the hit Emmy-winning fantasy series Game of Thrones chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom.
The seventh season of Game of Thrones will see Daenerys Targaryen finally make her way from Essos to Westeros to reclaim the Iron Throne, while the Nigth King’s White Walker army marches south, bringing winter with him.
Game of Thrones stars Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Diana Rigg, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and Jonathan Pryce. Executive producers are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield. Co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, George R.R. Martin.
Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres July 16 on HBO.
