You’d think “finish Game of Thrones” would be a big enough check off the ol’ To-Do List to get you some significant free time, but not for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the pair have just exited a planned trilogy of Star Wars films, the first of which Disney chairman Bob Iger confirmed back in May. In fact, Weiss and Benioff were reportedly slotted to write and produce the next Star Wars movie to hit theaters following this year’s The Rise of Skywalker, scheduled for a 2022 release. Unfortunately, the duo also signed a Netflix overall deal in August, so, yeah, something had to go.
“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,” Benioff and Weiss said in a statement Monday night. “But 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.”
However, from the sound of it, the pair are more than welcome to pick up a trilogy or two whenever they have a few moments free. As Disney Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a 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.”
