In a new interview with the German outlet Welt, George R.R. Martin says that Game Thrones almost ended with three big movies, rather than season 8.

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“We had actually considered this option: David Benif and Dan Weiss, the two creators behind the series, actually wanted to end the saga after the seventh season with three big movies,” he said. “Game Thrones was to end in the cinema. Four or five years ago, it was seriously discussed,” Martin said.

“Because HBO didn’t get involved,” Martin further explained. “The responsible people said, ‘We produce TV series, we’re not in the cinema business.’ And when HBO makes movies, like now with Deadwood], then they produce it only to show it on TV – not in the cinema. Everything is changing right now. What is cinema today? What is television? What is streaming? Is Netflix now making cinema or television? Everything mixes. Today we no longer know where the boundaries are between cinema, streaming providers, and television.”

To say fan reaction to season 8 was mixed would be putting it lightly: On Rotten Tomatoes, the final season has an abysmal 31% audience rating. Would having released the final episodes as a trilogy films changed the reaction to the ending  Game Thrones?