Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss may be getting a lot of flak from critics and fans for the way they’ve handled their show’s final season, but that isn’t stopping them from taking the reigns on another massive franchise: Star Wars.
We’ve known for some time that Disney had enlisted the pair to create a new trilogy of Star Wars films, but now we have confirmation that they won’t just be handling any Star Wars movie, they’ll be shepherding the next Star Wars movie. The Mouse House recently declared that Star Wars would be taking a three-year hiatus from theaters after this December’s Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker closes out the Skywalker saga, and now they’ve announced that when the franchise finally returns to cinemas in December 2022, it will be with Benioff and Weiss at the helm.
“We did a deal with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are famous for Game of Thrones, and the next [Star Wars] movie we release will be theirs. We’re not saying anything more about that,” Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger told the crowd at the MoffetNathanson Media & Communications Summit on Tuesday.
As for just what this new Star Wars movie will be about, it’s probably going to be a while before we find out. The film is still three-and-a-half years away, so there’s certainly no reason for Benioff and Weiss to reveal anything this early — especially as they continue to deal with the recent Game of Thrones fallout. It’s also unknown if their trilogy will air consecutively. With Star Wars films planned for 2022, 2024, and 2026, it’s possible all three could be Benioff’s and Weiss’s, but they could also potentially be staggered with releases from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s own upcoming Star Wars trilogy.
If Benioff and Weiss are somehow able to close out Thrones in a satisfying way, then maybe Star Wars fans will once again be excited to see their take on a Galaxy Far Far Away. But if they flub the ending, Disney may have to prepare for a less-than-rosy reception from fans by the time the next batch of Star Wars films rolls around.
