1. Many shows suffer audience fatigue as they get older. Not “Game of Thrones”, which has a GROWING audience. Here is the U.S. viewership for each season: Season One: 9.3 million, Season Two: 11.6 million, Season Three: 14.4 million, Season Four: 19.1 million, Season Five: 20.2 million, Season Six: 25.7 million, and Season Seven: 32.8 million.
2. Over the course of its eight seasons, it has filmed in 10 countries: Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Malta, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, the United States, Canada, and Scotland.
3. Most of the production happened in Northern Ireland, where the show used 12,986 extras, and 2,000 crew members across the eight seasons.
4. And just in Northern Ireland alone, 3,748 pounds of rubber and 1.5 tons of metal were used for armory . . . and 1,300 shields were created.
5. Production went through 52,000 bags of paper snow, 163 tons of propane, 3,000 pyrotechnic effects, 4,000 gallons of artificial blood, 20,907 candles, 25 miles of rope, 22,966 feet of waxed cotton fabric were used to make more than 330 tents and 50 miles of fabric were used for costumes.
6. The construction department used 745 miles of repurposed timber, 60,000 sheets of plywood, 20 million screws and bolts, 65,000 bags of plaster, 1,320 gallons of wood glue, 1,200 blocks of polystyrene, 1,000 sheets of fire board. More than 1,000 miles of cable, and 120 semi-truck loads of reclaimed beams from warehouses and barns from all over Europe.
7. Over the course of eight seasons, “Game of Thrones” used 12,137 wigs and hairpieces. And a lot goes into that. Daenerys’ wig color and style are the result of more than two months of testing and seven prototypes. That’s Emilia Clarke’s character.
8. Throughout filming, 19,722 travel documents were issued, 68,143 hotel rooms were booked, and 1,749 call sheets were issued to the cast and crew.
9. Over the first seven seasons, “Game of Thrones” has 132 Emmy nominations and 47 wins and seven Golden Globe nominations with one win.
10. Season Eight was reportedly its most expensive, with a $90 million budget (which is roughly $15 million each episode). And the main cast members were paid $500,000 per episode.
11. “Game of Thrones” has racked up a pretty impressive body count over the years. According to an unofficial fan count, 174,373 individuals have been killed in the first seven seasons. Another count claims there have only been FIVE episodes where nobody dies on-screen. And according to yet another study, characters have a 14% chance of dying within the first hour after being introduced on the show.
12. There are 432 minutes left in the series, spread across six episodes. Season Eight premieres Sunday night, and the series finale will air on May 19th.
