In a shocking turn of events this morning, Game of Thrones creative duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have exited their planned Star Wars trilogy around a year and a half after Disney and Lucasfilm first announced they were joining. In a statement following the announcement, the two had the following to offer:
We love Star Wars. When George Lucas built it, he built us too. Getting to talk about Star Wars with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything. But there are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away.
The duo were set to produce and write the untitled Star Wars film slated for December 16th, 2022. This film, along with two others, were set to be an untitled planned Star Wars trilogy. These were set to be independent from the Skywalker Saga (also known as Episodes I-IX) ending this Christmas, and other projects helmed by Rian Johnson and Kevin Feige. The duo team have been in high demand following the end of the massively successful Game of Thrones this past spring, which won 59 Emmys over its eight seasons. The hope within Lucasfilm was that their expertise in world-building would benefit Star Wars immensely as the currently-established saga comes to a close with The Rise of Skywalker, coming to theatres December 20th.
Lucasfilm has struggled recently to keep names attached to Star Wars projects. They have experienced both a high-profile split with Chris Lord and Phil Miller, best known for The LEGO Movie, as well as Colin Trevorrow exiting the director role of The Rise of Skywalker, both in 2017. With the Skywalker Saga coming to an end, and the transition to small-screen projects like The Mandalorian, the Star Wars franchise is at a crossroads. Who knows what will come next as Lucasfilm and Disney continue to plot the next decade of one of the world’s largest franchises. Stay tuned to WDWNT for updates on Star Wars as news continues to break!
After the final season of Game of Thrones, this doesn’t bother me at all. That amazing show really went out with a thud.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it was Disney who pulled the plug, but let them save some face.
They chose a “Netflix” project over a “Star Wars” project.
Yeah……sure they did.
World building? They didn’t build anything. They took a world built by GRRM and turned it into a TV show. Their work converting books into TV is commendable, no doubt, but it’s a far cry from building the worlds themselves.