'The Winds of Winter' release date news update: Amazon leaks novel's launch date? Martin's publisher releases statement

It almost seemed like "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans were finally about to get a definitive release date for the highly anticipated "The Winds of WInter." Alas, the release date posted in an Amazon France listing for "WoW" has turned out to be incorrect.

Earlier this week, fans of George R.R. Martin's bestselling epic fantasy novel series were in a frenzy over what appeared to have been a release date leak for "The Winds of Winter," the twice-delayed sixth installment in the author's "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga, on which HBO's award-winning "Game of Thrones" is based.

Fans had expected "The Winds of Winter" to be published before the sixth season of "Game of Thrones" was to air. Sadly, Martin was unable to finish the novel before the deadline set by his publishers, resulting in "Game of Thrones" season 6 being made and aired prior to the novel's release. Season 6 was the first season of "Game of Thrones" to not be based on an existing "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel.

But while Martin has previously said that any and all announcements regarding "The Winds of Winter" will first be made on his blog, fans thought that the novel was finally within reach when Amazon France listed the book with March 9, 2017 as the release date.

According to Time, Amazon has previously listed bogus release dates for the novels in "A Song of Ice and Fire." This, however, did not deter some fans from believing that the date was accurate.

The last major statement Martin made about "The Winds of Winter" was back in January, when he confirmed that the novel will not be published before "Game of Thrones" season 6 debuts.

"I am not going to set another deadline for myself to trip over," the author wrote at the time. "The deadlines just stress me out."

"I am going back to my stance from last March, before all this. It will be done when it's done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it," he said.

After news broke about the purported release date leak, Random House, Martin's U.S. publisher, issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly.

"As his publisher, we support George RR Martin as he works hard to finish 'The Winds of Winter,'" the statement read. "Any on-sale dates currently listed online for the novel are incorrect. Once we have a publication date for 'The Winds of Winter,' the world will know."

Following the statement from Random House, the Amazon France listing was edited to remove the false release date.