David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators and showrunners of HBO's Game of Thrones, will no longer helm a trilogy of new Star Wars films, Deadline reports.
"We love Star Wars," Benioff and Weiss said in a statement, per 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."
Back in August, it was reported that the duo signed a multi-year deal with Netflix. The pair pointed to the deal and said that they were simply too busy to do the Star Wars trilogy. "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 Emmy winners said. "So we are regretfully stepping away." The first of the Star Wars films was previously expected to drop in 2022 and was set to explore a storyline outside of the Skywalker saga.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also released a statement on the exit of Benioff and Weiss and kept the door ajar for their possible return to the franchise. "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers," Kennedy said. "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."
Benioff and Weiss weren't the only ones developing new Star Wars films. Rian Johnson was also tapped to helm a brand new Star Wars trilogy. Back in 2017, it was announced that Johnson would be given a "blank canvas" to create the films. Johnson, who recently said he had "no update" regarding the movies, will write and direct the first film in the installment.
Speaking of Star Wars, a new trailer for Disney+'s The Mandalorian series was just released. The show will be up on the streaming platform starting on Nov. 12. Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Gina Carano, Nick Nolte, Emily Swallow, and others will star in the series. On the movie side of things, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to hit theaters on December 20.
The saga will end, the story lives forever. Watch the final trailer for @StarWars: #TheRiseOfSkywalker in theaters December 20. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/MLbzRXrCJb pic.twitter.com/RLllQGme76
Their departure has led to some cheers from people who were likely less than enthused about their involvement to begin with:
