Game of Thrones Creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Out At Star Wars
Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss announced they will no longer be working with Disney and Lucasfilm on an upcoming Star Wars project.
Benioff and Weiss announced their decision to exit Star Wars via Deadline. In a statement, they wrote, “We love Star Wars. 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.”
They added, “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.”
The duo reportedly inked a deal with Netflix in August worth close to $250 million for five years according to reports.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy issued her own statement:
“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.”
Their exit from Star Wars is not really a shock. Disney and Lucasfilm had seemingly already been lowering our expectations of Weiss and Benioff joining Star Wars. Back in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke at the MoffetNathanson Media & Communications summit where he detailed that Benioff and Weiss would only be working on the next Star Wars film.
“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. And we’re not saying anything more about that.”
Related: Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Might Only Be Attached to One Star Wars Film
This was a radical change from the initial announcement that Benioff and Weiss would “write and produce a new series of Star Wars films.” Being downgraded from working on a series of films to only one was not a good sign.
It also contradicted Kathleen Kennedy’s comments regarding Rian Johnson and Benioff and Weiss working with her team to map out the next decade of Star Wars storytelling.
During Star Wars Celebration in April, Kennedy noted Benioff and Weiss would “segue into Star Wars” after they wrapped up Game of Thrones. In fact, she noted they would be “working very closely with Rian.”
She also implied they would be working on the next decade of Star Wars storytelling, “We’re not just looking at what the next three movies might be, or talking about this in terms of a trilogy. We’re looking at: What is the next decade of storytelling?”
Related: Report: HBO Passes on Game of Thrones Creators – Star Wars Deal Might Be Up in the Air
Adding to this is sources at The Hollywood Reporter indicated Benioff and Weiss were actually penning a Star Wars film and writing a treatment for a trilogy. It’s quite possible Disney saw the treatment from Benioff and Weiss and decided to take a pass, going in a different direction.
THR also reported that HBO passed on signing Benioff and Weiss, opting to go with J.J. Abrams instead. They had previously been scheduled to do a post-civil war drama in the vein of Amazon’s Man in the High School titled Confederacy at HBO.
Related: Game of Thrones: The Battle of Winterfell is Star Wars: The Last Jedi Bad
Benioff and Weiss’ exit from Star Wars comes following the widely panned Game of Thrones Season 8. Even Jon Snow actor Kit Harrington described the finale as “disappointing.”
Even more interesting about Benioff and Weiss’ exit is that it comes just hours after the duo appeared at the Austin Film Festival, where they reportedly described their inexperience running a major television production.
Twitter user ForArya reported that Benioff and Weiss described their first season of Game of Thrones as an “expensive film school” because they had not previously worked with a large production that included costume designers.
Dan is saying that #GameofThrones was basically an expensive film school for he and Dave. For example, they had no idea how to work with costume designers, and it was a huge learning experience.
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
They also documented that Benioff and Weiss reportedly admitted they didn’t really have any bona fides when it came to pitching the show to George R.R. Martin and HBO.
David is describing the pre-meeting with GRRM who was questioning their bona fides and “we didn’t really have any.” We had never done TV and we didn’t have any. We don’t know why he trusted us with his life’s work.”
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
They also reiterated they wanted to remove fantasy elements from the series in order to broaden the potential audience.
Dan wanted to remove as many fantasy elements as possible bc “we didn’t just want to appeal to that type of fan.” They wanted to expand the fan base to people beyond the fantasy fan base to “mothers, NFL players”…
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
When we pitched HBO, we promised them that we would downplay the fantasy elements. (Paraphrase)
She is challenging the fact of how the Night King and the White Walkers and how it played out.
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
Weiss had previously highlighted they downplayed fantasy elements in the series while speaking with Chicago Magazine back in 2013:
“It was this universe that I hadn’t spent much time in since I was 12, but it felt completely different. It was wholly realized. The characters all want power, love, to f***—they want what people in the real world want.”
During the panel, they also reportedly admitted that they did not try and understand the major elements of the book series.
Did you really sit down and try to boil the elements of the books down? Did you really try to understand it’s major elements.
No. We didn’t. The scope was too big. It was about the scenes we were trying to depict and the show was about power.
— Needle & Pen (@ForArya) October 26, 2019
What do you make of Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss exiting Star Wars?
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