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Everything We Know About Benioff and Weiss' Star Wars Movies
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Last updated: March 25, 2021
Before the end of Game of Thrones, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were announced to be joining Lucasfilm in 2018. The deal at the time was for the duo to produce and write the next Star Wars movie trilogy, which would have been the next stage following the close of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the third in the sequel trilogy that launched in 2015 with The Force Awakens. Since then, of course, a whole lot has changed. Disney and Lucasfilm have moved on to other writers and directors, including Patty Jenkins, Leslye Headland, and Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi. As for Benioff and Weiss, who signed an overall deal with Netflix in 2019 to write, produce, and direct new series and films, the pair parted ways with Lucasfilm in October 2019, just a year after their Star Wars trilogy was announced with them on board.
While the initial press release actually dropped a lot of hints regarding what fans could expect from the future of the Star Wars saga, the slate of Lucasfilm looks a whole lot different now than it did in 2018. Here's what has changed in terms of Benioff and Weiss' role in Lucasfilm and what their Star Wars trilogy would have been about.
Benioff & Weiss Are No Longer Writing/Producing Star Wars Trilogy
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Lucasfilm initially recruited Benioff and Weiss to write and produce these new films, not direct them. These movies would have been independent from both the "Skywalker Saga" and Rian Johnson's long-gestating trilogy. That fact was particularly intriguing, given the "Skywalker Saga" came to an end shortly after in 2019. Han Solo and Luke Skywalker both died in the sequel trilogy, and Carrie Fisher sadly passed away in 2016. Lucasfilm was charting the future of the franchise, and they'd chosen a team of writer / producers who had previously shown their talent for worldbuilding with HBO's Game of Thrones. However, it was not meant to be.
Just a few months after signing a deal with Netflix, Benioff and Weiss confirmed their exit from Lucasfilm. The Star Wars trilogy was seemingly scrapped, with the writing-producing duo citing their exit had to do with their new venture with Netflix. In a statement, they made it clear that they would always love Star Wars, but the stars were not aligned this time around.
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"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."
The good news is that Benioff and Weiss could return to Lucasfilm at some point, with the studio's Kathleen Kennedy implying that the door was still open should they have the time to return in the future.
It Was Meant To Be A Trilogy, Not Just One Movie
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Benioff and Weiss were hired to create a whole new corner of the Star Wars galaxy. This wasn't intended to be a solo anthology film, but the beginning of a new trilogy, one that would have created something entirely new moving forward. While Benioff and Weiss' departure may have left a small dent in Lucasfilm's overall plans for the future of Star Wars, the launch of Disney+ (and The Mandalorian along with it) proved to be a new home for the expansive world of Star Wars.
The Mandalorian has since spawned a couple of spinoffs, with a couple more series on the way, including one that centers Obi-Wan Kenobi. What's more, Marvel's Kevin Feige is also collaborating on a Star Wars movie, so there are plenty of creatives moving things forward in the world of Star Wars despite Benioff and Weiss' exit.
It Would Have Been Set In A Specific Era
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Benioff and Weiss' movies would have been set in a different time period. It wouldn't have been based in the age of the Skywalkers or the Solos actually; instead, it would have been set in either the far future or the distant past. The former seemed more likely at the time. The old Expanded Universe included one series, Star Wars: Legacy, that revealed events 100 years after Return of the Jedi. That series effectively locked in the timeline, and the EU soon became nothing more than build-up. Lucasfilm are unlikely to repeat the same mistake, with or without Benioff and Weiss on board.
Production Was Supposed To Begin After Game Of Thrones Ended
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According to Benioff and Weiss, they would have begun work on the new Star Wars trilogy after Game of Thrones came to an end. The final season of the HBO fantasy drama aired in the spring of 2019, with the series finale causing quite the stir among fans. It was assume then that Benioff and Weiss would be heading to a galaxy far, far away and leaving Westeros behind.
The announcement that Benioff and Weiss would be joining Lucasfilm at all came as an unexpected twist. In July 2017, HBO announced they'd ordered a new series from Benioff and Weiss. Confederate would be set in an alternate timeline, in a world where the South had won the American Civil War. To HBO's surprise, the announcement was met with expressions of outrage and anger. It seems likely the outcry has forced HBO to drop their plans for Confederate. Instead, Benioff and Weiss will move on to Lucasfilm.
While Benioff and Weiss' Star Wars plans didn't pan out in the way many expected it to, the duo are busy working on a number of projects for Netflix, including producing the adaptation of the sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem. It's unclear if they'll ever rejoin Lucasfilm to tell their own Star Wars story, but who knows what the future will hold? As for the future of the Star Wars franchise, Lucasfilm has a plethora of amazing movies and series on the way, including The Book of Boba Fett a solo series about Rogue One's Cassian Andor, and Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron.
