David Benioff and D B Weiss made the decision to quit their planned trilogy of Star Wars films, but it seems there were concerns on both sides of the deal.
In a surprising turn of events at the start of the week, it was announced that Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D B Weiss were walking away from their deal to make a trilogy of Star Wars movies. The first fruits of that deal were expected in 2022, but now Disney and Lucasfilm need to rework their plans.
A piece at The Hollywood Reporter has dug into the reasons behind their departure, and has come up with a few causes.
Firstly, the high profile and very lucrative deal that the pair also inked with Netflix was said to have irked Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy. She reportedly had concerns over whether they could balance the new trilogy whilst also working across numerous Netflix TV projects.
Furthermore, she was also said to be worried about the leak of talent from Star Wars movies. It’s no secret that the franchise has seen directors such as Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Josh Trank and Colin Trevorrow depart films before they were complete. Gareth Edwards, too, went through difficult times making the terrific Rogue One.
On the part of Benioff and Weiss, who faced some degree of backlash this year for their Game Of Thrones finale, they were reportedly concerned too about the toxicity of some elements of the Star Wars fanbase, that follows The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson two years after he made his film.
Ultimately, it was said to be Benioff and Weiss who made the decision to quit. They’d been working on a trilogy, with a view of writing at least one of the films, that would have explored the era where the Jedi came to exist in the first place.
But not to be. Disney still has a December 2022 release slot for the next Star Wars feature after The Rise Of Skywalker. But it’s anyone’s guess at the moment who or what it’s going to fill it with.
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