Former Recreation of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will now not be creating the following Star Wars movie trilogy for LucasFilm, Deadline Hollywood reports. As a substitute, they're going to be specializing in creating new movies and sequence for Netflix, a part of a lucrative nine-figure deal they signed in August with the streaming large.
"We love Star Wars," Benioff and Weiss told Deadline Hollywood. "When George Lucas constructed it, he constructed us, too. Getting to speak about Star Wars with him and the present Star Wars workforce was the joys of a lifetime, and we are going to all the time be indebted to the saga that modified every little thing. There are solely so many hours within the day, and we felt we couldn't do justice to each Star Wars and our Netflix tasks. So we're regretfully stepping away."
Benioff and Weiss signed onto Star Wars again in February 2018, earlier than the much-maligned (by followers) closing season of Recreation of Thrones aired on HBO earlier this yr. They'd been creating a sequence referred to as Confederates for HBO, a fictionalized various historical past of the US the place the South gained the Civil Warfare and slavery remained authorized. The sequence was tabled, ostensibly as a consequence of scheduling conflicts relatively than in response to an internet outcry over the controversial premise. Then got here the backlash towards the GoT finale, even sparking an online petition with 1.75 million signatories calling for a remake. (As we noted in our assessment of the finale, that is not how any of this works.)
The duo has saved a reasonably low public profile since then earlier than igniting a contemporary controversy with a panel appearance over the weekend on the Austin Movie Competition. The lads adopted a self-deprecating stance that did not land effectively with the viewers, joking about their lack of expertise and marveling that George R.R. Martin entrusted his life's work into their fingers as they stunning a lot discovered the ropes on the job. So the information that Benioff and Weiss are now not concerned with Star Wars could be seen as excellent news by many.
It does type of throw a fork within the works for Lucasfilm's long-range plans for the franchise. At present, The Mandalorian debuts on the brand new Disney+ streaming service November 12, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—the ultimate installment in the newest trilogy that concludes the long-running "Skywalker saga"—hits theaters December 20. The Benioff and Weiss mission was meant to launch the following stage of the Star Wars cinematic saga, slated for 2022.
Full plate
Happily, Lucasfilm nonetheless has loads of different tasks within the works, most notably a Star Wars spinoff sequence featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Ewan McGregor reprising his function as the enduring character. It was announced at Disney's annual D23 Expo in August, together with one other Star Wars spinoff ("Untitled Spy Sequence") for Disney+ that includes Rogue One's Cassian (Diego Luna) and his finest droid buddy, K2 (Alan Tudyk).
It seems like Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy is not closing the door fully on having the duo within the Star Wars fold sooner or later sooner or later, nonetheless. "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are unbelievable storytellers," she instructed Deadline Hollywood. "We hope to incorporate them within the journey ahead when they can step away from their busy schedule to deal with Star Wars."