Here Is Your First Glimpse At 'Game of Thrones' Season 8 and Meryl Streep In 'Big Little Lies'
HBO was just full of surprises last night: in addition to the twist-filled finale of Sharp Objects, the network sneakily aired the first new footage from Game of Thrones' final season, and the first ever footage of Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies. This blink-and-you'll-miss-it treat came during a promo video for HBO's 2019 lineup, which also featured new clips from True Detective season three, Barry season two, and the seventh and final season of Veep.
The GoT season 8 clip is buried amidst a whole lot of old footage from season 7, so it's easy to miss – but watch closely at the 1:10 mark. That shot of Jon Snow (Kit Harington) embracing Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) shows the pair reuniting at Winterfell in the upcoming season.
The Meryl moment, meanwhile, comes just a few seconds earlier at 1:07. Streep is playing Mary Louise Wright, the mother-in-law to Nicole Kidman's Celeste, and the mother of Celeste's abusive husband Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), who died ~under mysterious circumstances~ at the end of season one. Per HBO's summary of her role: "Concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son Perry’s death, Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers."
It's no huge surprise that the release of new Thrones footage is being kept to a minimum, given the intense secrecy around the blockbuster drama's finale: HBO's president of programming Casey Bloys has revealed that multiple endings have been filmed for the series finale, to avoid any spoilers being leaked or hacked as has happened in the past.
Game of Thrones season eight will be just six episodes long – but don't let that get you down, because every single one of those episodes will be feature-length, clocking in at 80 minutes or more. The final season will air in April 2019. Big Little Lies season two doesn't have a premiere date yet, but will air in 2019.
('You Might Also Like',)
