“Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will no longer write or produce a trilogy of “Star Wars” movies, Variety has confirmed.
The pair attributed the departure to their upcoming Netflix projects.
“We love Star Wars. When George Lucas built it, he built us too,” they said in a statement. “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.”
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy remarked, “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 deal was announced back in February 2018. The new series would have been separate from the main episodic Skywalker saga that started with “Star Wars: A New Hope” and is slated to wrap up with 2019’s “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.” It would also have existed independently from a Rian Johnson-helmed series that was announced last year.
The first movie of the series was scheduled for a Dec. 16, 2022 release in May. Two more “Star Wars” films would have come out in 2024 and 2026. It is unclear whether those releases will remain unchanged.
Weiss and Benioff’s pact with Netflix came after an intense bidding war between the streamer, Amazon, and Disney. Little regarding the pair’s upcoming projects has been reported.
The pair’s exit from “Star Wars” comes two days after they participated in a moderated discussion of their creative strategy on “Game of Thrones” at the Austin Film Festival, which was subject to scrutiny in film and television circles online after an attendee live-tweeted the talk. The final season of “Game of Thrones,” shortened to just six episodes, received a decidedly mixed critical reception compared to the previous seven seasons.
Deadline Hollywood first reported the news of the pair’s departure from Star Wars.
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