Five top Game Of Thrones cast members ‘to pocket £2million per episode in season seven and eight’

Danaerys heads for the Iron Throne - and potentially a big cheque 

Game of Thrones has usually returned to our screens by this time of year, welcoming in the longer days and warmer temperatures with a healthy dose of blood, deceit and dragons. 

The penultimate, seventh season of Game of Thrones will not air until mid-July, however – and will be two episodes short of the usual 10

That hasn't stopped rife speculation about the cast's pay packets for the HBO flagship show, however. Reports are emerging from Los Angelesthat Thrones' cast members are securing deals that would see them paid even more than the record-breaking salaries earned by the stars of The Big Bang Theory and Friends.

According to The Express, main stars Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage(Tyrion Lannister) and Danish co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lanister) are set to earn up to £2 million each per episode after signing golden contracts. 

The extra cash apparently comes from bonus clauses, which will see the stars earning percentages of the syndication payments that come from the record-breaking show being shown in more than 170 countries. The stars will also benefit from payments from re-runs, with shows earning audiences of up to 23 million people during the sixth season.

This isn't the first story to emerge about what HBO pays its heavyweight actors. A few weeks ago The Hollywood Reporter claimed that these five – known as Tier A – had negotiated to earn $1.1 million per episode for seasons 7 and 8.

While considerably less than the $2 million reported by The Express, these pay packets would still be the biggest in Hollywood for TV actors. Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg, stars of hit sitcom The Big Bang, famously secured $1 million per episode after lengthy negotiations in 2014.  

Despite the enormous anticipation surrounding the forthcoming Thrones season, fans have had to resist the temptation to spoiler the new episodes for themselves after the entire plot appeared online in November.

Game of Thrones season 7 will begin on July 17.