‘Game Of Thrones’ Co-Creators Benioff And Weiss Making Next ‘Star Wars’ Film
After two days of wildly varying opinions being cast forth onto social media by excited or agitated Game of Thrones fans — largely over the direction of the final season of the show — there is now even more controversial news emerging. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, showrunners for GoT — will be behind the next Star Wars film to go into production.
According to Gizmodo, Disney CEO Robert Iger has announced that the first Star Wars film to follow Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be a film from Benioff and Weiss. It’s not clear whether the Game of Thrones creators will be writing the film, directing it, or both — and there’s no word about the characters, timeline, or other specifics about the film. Other than the attachment of Benioff and Weiss, one sparse detail is known — this film is slated for release in 2022.
“We did a deal with David Benioff and D.B Weiss, who are famous for Game of Thrones, and the next movie that we release will be theirs,” Iger said. “And we’re not saying anything more about that.”
Disney and Lucasfilm had announced in early 2018, via the Star Wars website, that Benioff and Weiss would “write and produce a new series of Star Wars films,” although little had been announced about that planned project since. Iger’s comments this week were the first indication that the Benioff and Weiss movies are next on the Star Wars docket. The company said last year that the Benioff/Weiss films would be separate from both the “episodic Skywalker saga” and the other announced trilogy from Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.
While there had been indications of a lengthy break from Star Wars after The Rise of Skywalker, Disney recently released a road map of its planned release dates for the next eight years. This list detailed “Untitled Star Wars” releases dated for December 16, 2022; December 20, 2024; and December 18, 2026.
The next Star Wars movie hitting theaters in 2022 will be from Game of Thrones’ Benioff and Weiss https://t.co/rvZ69jO2FK pic.twitter.com/Loo9UzDvZb
— The Verge (@verge) May 14, 2019
Of course, since Disney first acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, such plans have been more fluid than advertised. Not only have release dates of the planned movies been moved in the past, but announced standalone movies have also been canceled. Numerous writers and directors have been fired from their respective films in the interim, as well. Two of these, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were fired more than halfway through production on Solo: A Star Wars story.
Benioff and Weiss are listed as executive producers of the first planned Game of Thrones spinoffs on HBO, but are not expected to serve as showrunners.
