Game of thrones season 7 release date.

No, it's not too early to get excited about the return of Game of Thrones. With the HBO hit's sixth run now over, thoughts are inevitably turning to the next season... and how much longer the fantasy epic can run.

Is the end in sight? From teasers to plot leaks to theories, here's everything you need to know. Trailer bellow.

Season 7 will premiere simultaneously on Sunday night, July 16 on at 9pm ET on HBO in the US and at 2am on Monday, July 17 on Sky Atlantic in the UK. But if you can't stomach the thought of staying up so late, there's always the repeat viewing later in the day at the more manageable time of 9pm to look forward to.

HBO has made a habit of debuting new GoT episodes in the spring – ordinarily in early April. But this year, it'll launch a little later, in the summer months.

"We're starting a bit later because at the end of this season, 'Winter is here' – and that means that sunny weather doesn't really serve our purposes any more," showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss previously confirmed.

"So we kind of pushed everything down the line, so we could get some grim grey weather even in the sunnier places that we shoot."

Makes sense... not that it helps to soothe our broken hearts. We'll be getting a bumper-length premiere - running to 59 minutes- and season finale - lasting at least a whopping 81 minutes, maybe closer to 90 - to make up for the long wait.

It's looking like we could be in for another long wait after that, too - with the eighth and final season possibly delayed until 2019.

"[Benioff and Weiss] have to write the episodes and figure out the production schedule," HBO President Casey Bloys said. "We'll have a better sense of that once they get further into the writing."

"We honestly don't know yet [when the final episodes will air]," Benioff admitted. "There's been a lot of back and forth about air dates. That's a long way off from being settled."

Filming wrapped on season 7 in February – with Emilia Clarke having already completed work on the "mindblower" new season. To give us a taste, here's a first-look teaser: featuring the first dialogue from season 7 courtesy of Jon Snow, it hints at a huge battle ahead between the living and the undead White Walkers.