“Game of Thrones” meets “Star Wars” … sort of.
Months after the release of “The Last Jedi” and the announcement that director Rian Johnson would be in charge of his own trilogy of films once the “Skywalker Saga” comes to a close in 2019, Disney has announced yet another trilogy of “Star Wars” films to be written and produced by the duo that brought “Game of Thrones” to the small-screen: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced the news in a statement on starwars.com:
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today. Their command of complex characters, depth of story and richness of mythology will break new ground and boldly push Star Wars in ways I find incredibly exciting.â€
The “Game of Thrones” creators followed up with a statement of their own:
“In the summer of 1977 we traveled to a galaxy far, far away, and we’ve been dreaming of it ever since. We are honored by the opportunity, a little terrified by the responsibility, and so excited to get started as soon as the final season of Game of Thrones is complete.â€
With production of the 8th and final season of “Game of Thrones” well underway, Benioff & Weiss will have their hands full yet again. There are no release dates for either this or Rian Johnson’s announced trilogy, and all we know so far is that they will be separate from both the “Skywalker Saga” and each other. It would certainly be interesting to see Dan & David take the “Star Wars” franchise to the darker side (pun intended) of the galaxy far, far away – which would be in keeping with their track record for gritty, violent fantasy stories. Just replace Valerian Steel swords with lightsabers and you’re up and running!
There’s no word on the effect this news will have – if any – on their announced HBO series “Confederate,” which, according to HBO, “chronicles events leading to the ‘Third American Civil War.’ It takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution. The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone – freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate, and the families of people in their thrall.” The announcement was met with a ton of backlash regarding the racial implications of two white men making a show about racism in America, leading activist April Reign to create the hashtag #NoConfederate and forcing both HBO’s CEO, Richard Plepler, and their president of programming, Casey Bloys to make statements defending the planned series.
One thing’s for sure: after the massive success of “Game of Thrones,” there’s no lack of options for this dynamic duo of writers.
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