HBO Expands New Season of Game of Thrones

HBO is taking a page from NBC's old playbook.

Years after NBC famously aired super-sized episodes of hits like Friends and The Office, HBO is doing the same with the new season of Game of Thrones, Entertainment Weekly reports.

"There's almost another full episode's worth of extra minutes spread across the season," showrunner Dan Weiss told the magazine. "One of the great liberties with HBO is we're not forced to come in at a specific time. We can't be under 50 minutes or over 60, but that gives us a lot of flexibility."

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Game of Thrones' upcoming season will adapt material from author George R.R. Martin's longest Song of Ice and Fire novel, which comes in at 973 pages. "A super-sized season, as befitting Storm of Swords," fellow showrunner David Benioff adds. "Last year we had a lot of 52-minute episodes. This year is a lot of 56, 57."

In a statement, HBO confirmed the news and said the Season 3 finale might go over an hour, like the pilot and the Season 2 finale. "All 10 episodes gained a minute or two from past seasons with the finale very possibly exceeding 60 minutes."

The new season of Game of Thrones premieres on Sunday, March 31 on HBO. Are you excited for the longer episodes?