It seems as though the curse of Star Wars continues as another set of creatives have bailed from the Lucasfilm franchise. According to Deadline, Game of Thrones show creators and Emmy winners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have departed their planned trilogy of Star Wars films earmarked for release in 2022, 2024 and 2026. The pair are pinning the blame on their recent 5-year deal to produce television for Netflix (rumored to be worth in the neighborhood of $300 million) for not allowing them enough time to make their Star Wars movies, speculated to take place during the Old Republic era.
“We love Star Wars,” the pair stated. “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. 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.”
“David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “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.”
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Kennedy currently has The Mandalorian Season 1 debuting on November 12 via the Disney+ platform and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arriving in theaters December 20. In the Disney+ pipeline are The Mandalorian Season 2 (currently in the writing stages with producer Jon Favreau), the untitled Cassian Andor series to be partly written and directed by Tony Gilroy, and the untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series directed by Deborah Chow. They also have Indiana Jones 5 and Children of Blood and Bone in development outside the galaxy far far away.
While The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is still developing his own trilogy, and Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is also signed on to shepherd a Star Wars movie, it remains to be seen how Lucasfilm will fill the Star Wars-sized hole in their theatrical releases. Keep in mind that the Lucasfilm/Disney deal was only announced in October of 2012, and they had The Force Awakens in theaters a mere three years later. With a great deal of both box office and merchandising revenue at stake, it should not take Lucasfilm long to regroup after the departure of Benioff & Weiss.
Since the launch of the post-George Lucas era of Star Wars films there have been huge creative shuffles. Director Gareth Edwards was reportedly supplanted by Tony Gilroy for major Rogue One: A Star Wars Story reshoots, Josh Trank was fired off of Boba Fett: A Star Wars Story before the project was shelved entirely, Colin Trevorrow was replaced by J.J. Abrams on Rise of Skywalker and Phil Lord & Chris Miller were replaced as directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story by Ron Howard after shooting 85% of the picture. Stephen Daldry was also at one point hired to helm an Obi-Wan solo film before the project morphed into a TV series.
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Stay tuned to ComingSoon.net as the story develops!
Are you sad to see Benioff & Weiss depart Star Wars? Which filmmakers would you rather see make an Old Republic film? Let us know in the comments below!
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