Posted in: Disney, Movies, Star Wars | Tagged: D B Weiss, david benioff, game of thrones, movies, star wars

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Have Stepped Away From Star Wars

Published Mon, 28 Oct 2019 23:20:00 -0500

Oh dear indeed. Just under two years ago it was announced that that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were going to helm their own trilogy of Star Wars movies. At the time the reaction was pretty mixed overall but people were generally pretty positive about this new development. However, this was also a little over a year before the final season of Game of Thrones would air and Benioff and Weiss became two of the most hated showrunners on the planet. Unlike other times when fandoms have lashed out the actors of Game of Thrones have remained generally untouched while all the hatred was firmly pointed at Benioff and Weiss. That hatred, however, didn't stop Netflix from signing them to a huge deal earlier this year.

That Netflix deal is being cited as the main reason for why Benioff and Weiss are stepping away from their Star Wars trilogy according to Deadline. The last we heard this trilogy was the one we were going to see in 2022 so the future of Star Wars is a bit up in the air right now.

"We love Star Wars," the pair said in a statement to Deadline. "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."

At the moment it sounds like this is not like previous Star Wars partings and was a mutual decision between both parties. Lucasfilm has never shied away from saying that they are parting with directors over creative differences.

"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," said Kathleen Kennedy.

The busy schedule reason is also cited by Benioff and Weiss later in their statement.

"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," the GOT pair said in a statement to Deadline. "So we are regretfully stepping away."

So what does this mean for Star Wars? Probably not as much as people are thinking. There is still plenty of Star Wars content coming out for Disney+ and Lucasfilm could easily slot a singe spin-off movie into that 2022 release date. Rian Johnson is also still working on his own trilogy of Star Wars movies despite how much it still annoys people who hated The Last Jedi. Lucasfilm is likely going to focus on The Mandalorian, out next month, and The Rise of Skywalker the month after. We probably won't hear much until 2020 after Episode IX dust has settled one way or another.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, directed by J.J. Abrams, stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams.

It will be flying into theaters on December 20th, 2019.

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