'Game of Thrones' reigns as HBO's most popular television series by far and arguably one of the most watched shows period, however there has been a lot of speculation on how long the series will stay on the air.

Currently, HBO has picked up the drama series for six seasons and despite wanting more are willing to leave the decision up to the showrunners in hopes to not run it into the ground.

"We know basically how many hours are left in this story," Showrunner David Benioff states, "It's about finding that sweet spot so it works for us and for HBO and, most of all, it works for the audience."

Original series creator George R.R. Martin also chimed in on the subject in one of his recent blog posts. In this he explains the realism that comes with extending the series past six or seven seasons. Martin writes:

"Right now, Game of Thrones is guaranteed only six seasons. That's all HBO has officially committed to, by contract. We can speculate about additional seasons beyond that, but that's all it is, speculation. Weird stuff happens in television, and there are sooooo many factors involved. Budgets. Actors' contracts. New shows in development. Ratings ... Around the time that the second episode of season six is showing, HBO will order season seven, we hope ... or maybe, just maybe, they will order seasons seven AND eight. But even if they just order season seven, that doesn't mean that the show will end in seven; it could just represent a return to the original policy of committing to only one season at a time."

Martin also addressed the avenue of ending the series with a movie, an idea frequently suggested by the fans.

"It was a notion suggested to me, which I have enthusiastically endorsed... but since I was the first person to raise the possibility in public, somehow I am being seen as its father. Sure, I love the idea. Why not? What fantasist would not love the idea of going out with an epic hundred million feature film? And the recent success of the IMAX experience shows that the audience is there for such a movie. If we build it, they will come. But will we build it? I have no bloody idea."

'Game of Thrones' enters it's fifth season on April 12^th.