In a surprise move, HBO won’t have a presence at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 at all.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that HBO representatives gave a statement today, that “due to production schedules and air dates for Game of Thrones and Westworld, these series will not be presented at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. HBO has a longstanding relationship with SDCC, and we are very grateful for the fans’ enthusiastic response over the years. We look forward to returning in the future.”
This is huge news, and marks the first time that Game of Thrones will be skipping San Diego Comic-Con, as it’s attended every year. In the past, the series has aired in the spring, meaning San Diego Comic-Con served as essentially a “victory lap” with no real new “news” to present attendees. Last year was the first the series attended in the middle of its run. The final season of Game of Thrones is slated for sometime in 2019, though no release date has been announced. That means that depending on when it airs, we may never see Game of Thrones back in San Diego again.
Westworld‘s second season ends on June 24, just ahead of the convention – though that didn’t stop the series from heading to San Diego in 2017, despite airing no new episodes in 2017.
THR also reports that HBO also won’t have any offsite activations.
This does, however, open Hall H up to some fresh blood.
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