Game of Thrones stars reportedly receive massive raises for seasons 7 and 8

As Game of Thrones rockets towards its concluding two seasons, its five biggest stars have reportedly landed magnificent raises. Or have they?

As it turns out, starring in one of the world’s most popular TV shows can be a profitable business. How profitable exactly? According to The Express, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau recently signed deals that will pay each of them 2 million Pounds per episode. That’s roughly $2.56 million based on today’s exchange rates. Whoa. But are the quintet of stars really going to make that much?

Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

The Express notes that the contracts contain “complex bonus clauses based on shared percentages of syndication payments received from more than 170 countries in which the series is broadcast.” That could mean the base numbers are much lower, and that the actors total compensation will depend largely upon syndication, something not unusual in the show biz world.

The $2.56 million number also flies in the face of previous reports from last fall, that had the number pegged at $1.1 million. The stars had reportedly “banded together” to achieve that number, as it was a significant raise from the 300-500k range the actors were previously earning. So why would HBO double their stars pay twice in just six months?

It seems unlikely that HBO would give the actors two raises in-between seasons 6 and 7, but it is certainly possible. More likely, with the conclusion of the series on the horizon, the stars and HBO have merely formalized the syndication contracts. That might technically be a raise, but it wouldn’t be a raise for its own sake. It would account for the $2.56 million number.

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Either way, it appears the stars of Game of Thrones are in some rare company. The stars of The Big Bang Theory earn 1 million per episode, as did the stars of Friends in its final seasons. Sometime competitor The Walking Dead, pays its stars, Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln, $550,000 and $650,000 per episode. So cheers to the stars of Game of Thrones one way or another. You’re paying for dinner next time we see you.