'Game of Thrones' Season 7 to Start in Summer 2017

Update (July 18 at 12:45 p.m.): Sorry Game of Thrones fans, but the upcoming season is confirmed to arrive in summer 2017 instead of its usual April premiere. According to Entertainment Weekly, the HBO series will only have seven episodes and is set to be shot in Northern Ireland, Spain and Iceland.

HBO programming president Casey Bloys said in a statement,

"Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing. Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule."

Original Story (July 6 at 1:50 p.m.): Game of Thrones season 7 won't start in April of next year, like the show has in the past. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have noted that the search for gloomy weather in locations around the world will alter the show's expected premiere date.