As reported by Deadline, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have “walked away” from their deal with Disney’s Lucasfilm to launch the first post-Skywalker Saga trilogy set in the Star Wars universe.
According to the report, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy kept the door open for future involvement with the pair: “David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars.”
The duo cite their development deal with Netflix as the reason for turning away from Star Wars. (STAR WARS!)
But Weiss and Benioff embarrassed themselves mightily this weekend at an Austin Film Festival panel that exposed just how clueless and privileged they were when adapting Game of Thrones for the TV screen. Could it have been another case, as with Solo: A Star Wars Story, of Kennedy not suffering fools gladly and chalking it up to “creative differences?”
Will there still be a Star Wars film trilogy launching in December 2022? Will The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson’s trilogy be rushed to fill the slot? Stay tuned …
Our original article, originally published May 14. 2019:
Polygon is reporting that the next Star Wars movie after Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker coming in December 2022 will be the first film in the trilogy being developed by TV’s Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff.
The news comes from Disney CEO Bob Iger in a call with company investors. Last month we learned the general release schedule for the films, which will alternate each Christmas through at least 2026 with Avatar sequels starting in ’22.
The mysterious new Star Wars trilogy, along with another in the works from Episode VIII — The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson, is shrouded in secrecy still. The Rise of Skywalker has been described by Disney’s Lucasfilm as the last chapter in the numbered, episodic Skywalker saga.
We still don’t know the new films’ setting, era or cast — anything, really — or whether the Weiss-Benioff-produced trilogy will run consecutively or trade off with the Johnson trilogy films.
