After being plagued by hackers and episode leaks during its 7th seasons, it looks like Game of Thrones will be taking an old school approach to ensuring the security and mystery surrounding how the series will end.

HBO will reportedly film multiple series finale endings according to a report by The Morning Call. On Wednesday, the outlet published an article quoting HBO programming president Casey Bloys from a speech he delivered at Bethlehem’s Moravian College last week. Bloys was quoted as saying:

“I know in Game of Thrones, the ending, they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that nobody really knows what happens. You have to do that on a long show. Because when you’re shooting something, people know. So they’re going to shoot multiple versions so that there’s no real definitive answer until the end.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, who also picked up on the story, HBO is neither confirming nor denying this report but it certainly would make sense for the series and network to do something like this, especially given the piracy issues they experienced last season. With there being no confirm ending until the very end, this sounds like that would also mean the cast themselves would have no idea how the series ultimately ends. If executed correctly, this tactic could be a brilliant way to safeguard the show.

Shooting multiple versions of a scene is not something that is unheard of in the industry. We saw an example of this happening just recently with the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead. The series shot multiple different scenes depicting who would die at the hands of Negan in an attempt to keep the actual victim(s) a secret.

It makes sense, however, Entertainment Weekly did previously ask the Game of Thrones showrunners, Dan Weiss and David Benioff, how they plan to protect themselves against spoilers and hackers this season. Weiss replied with a cryptic answer by saying:

“We don’t even want to tell you because if we do then somebody will figure out how to circumvent the things that we’re doing.”
One thing is for sure, HBO and Game of Thrones are taking last seasons hacking and leaks very seriously and, it sure sounds like they are doing everything they can to prevent that from happening again. Production for the 8th and final season of Game of Thrones is said to begin its filming in October. There is no projected release date yet for the final season, however, speculations say we might have to wait until 2019 before we can return to Westeros.

What do you think of the report saying HBO will be shooting multiple series endings for the finale? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.