Late Monday night, news came in that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who were hired to write and produce their own Star Wars trilogy back in February 2018, would no longer be working in the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away. While there’s still no official word about what kind of stories the duo planned to deliver to the masses, new information come in claiming that these Star Wars movies would have explored the origins of the Jedi.
We’ve known for a while that like what Rian Johnson has planned for his Star Wars trilogy, the movies that David Benioff and D.B Weiss would have worked on would be separate from the Skywalker Saga, which is ending with The Rise of Skywalker this December. And while it’s been reported that at least one Knights of the Old Republic movie is in the works, if not more, according to Variety, Benioff and Weiss were interested in winding the clock back further to shine light on how these lightsaber-wielding warriors came to be.
Although the history of the Jedi has been touched upon in various Star Wars projects, like how Luke was living on the site of the first Jedi Temple during The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, we still have yet to see in the official canon how the Jedi first formed and dedicated their lives to protecting the galaxy. Whether or not you agree that this is a subject that requires delving into, it certainly would have allowed David Benioff and D.B. Weiss plenty of creative freedom, as these Star Wars movies would have been set thousands of years ago, if not longer.
Alas, things just didn’t work out for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss on the Star Wars front, with the official reason for this being that they're too busy with their work over at Netflix. However, the report also mentioned that the duo and Lucasfilm started to “see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer,” and it got to the point where the studio started hearing Star Wars pitches from other writers.
In addition to reaffirming much of what Variety laid out, The Hollywood Reporter noted in its own write-up that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ exit had been “brewing” since August, and that the men were having doubts about jumping into the Star Wars franchise due to “toxic fandom,” having already experienced some of that on Game of Thrones. This certainly isn’t the first instance of high-profile creator exit to have happened during the Disney era of Star Wars.
Regardless, where do we stand now with this franchise on the cinematic front? Well, the next Star Wars movies are set for 2022, 2024 and 2026, but it was the Benioff/Weiss trilogy that was supposed to fill those dates. Lucasfilm could possibly put Rian Johnson movies in there instead, or perhaps fully commit to those Knights of the Old Republic movies. Let’s also not forget that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is producing his own Star Wars movie, which could serve as the first chapter of a longer story.
Whatever the future holds, even if the origins of the Jedi are never brought to the big screen, that doesn’t mean we won’t ever see such a story unfold. Between TV shows, video games, novels and comic books, there are plenty of avenues that would allow another creator could delve into this material, though their take would likely be quite different than what the Game of Thrones showrunners had in mind.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates concerning the entire Star Wars franchise. The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20.
