Fans of HBO's 'Game of Thrones' will be delighted to hear the recent news of the show running for at least eight seasons.

This should come to no surprise as it is one of television's most popular shows, however there seemed to be a lot of discertainty when showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss told EW some time ago that they hope it would run for at least seven.

"It was our unstated goal, because to start on a show and say your goal is seven seasons is the height of lunacy," Benioff stated. "Once we got to the point where we felt like we're going to be able to tell this tale to its conclusion, that became [an even clearer] goal. Seven gods, seven kingdoms, seven seasons. It feels right to us."

However, it has now been said by HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo at the Television Critics Association, that he has plans for it running for eight.

"Seven-seasons-and-out has never been the [internal] conversation," Lombardo said to critics at the press tour Thursday. "The question is how much beyond seven are we going to do. [Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are] feeling like there's two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds. That's what we're looking at right now."

He even went on to hint at a possible prequel series.

"I would be open to anything Dan and David want to do," Lombardo said. "It really would depend fully on what they want to do. I think you're right, there's enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel. We haven't had any conversations."

'Game of Thrones' will return to HBO in its sixth season in early 2016.