'Game of Thrones' Creators to Write New 'Star Wars' Film Series

Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are joining the Star Wars galaxy.

The duo will write and produce a new series of films, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Tuesday.

“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “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.”

The new film series will be separate from the trilogy that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is developing, and will also stand alone from the Skywalker Saga, which J.J. Abrams is working on with the upcoming Episode IX. No release dates have been set for the series from the HBO power duo.

“In the summer of 1977 we traveled to a galaxy far, far away, and we’ve been dreaming of it ever since,” Benioff and Weiss said in a joint statement. “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.”

Benioff and Weiss' Star Wars involvement immediately puts the future of HBO's controversial slave drama Confederate in question. The duo were set to write and serve as showrunners on the straight-to-series drama alongside Nichelle Tramble Spellman (Justified, The Good Wife) and Malcolm Spellman (Empire), who will also serve as writers. The concept of the show — which 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 — immediately drew controversy. That series was eyed to launch in either 2018 or 2019, after Benioff and Weiss completed their work on the final season of Thrones. With the delay of Thrones' final season as well as their involvement in Star Wars — for which there is no timetable — the future of the project remains murky.

The Hollywood Reporter has asked HBO for comment on the future of Confederate.

During a Disney earnings call Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said talks with Benioff and Wise, repped by CAA, had been ongoing "for a long time."

"They have an idea for number of films and at some later date I'm sure we'll disclose to all of you just what those are," Iger said. "They are focused on a point in time in the Star Wars mythology and taking it from there."

Next up on the docket for Lucasfilm is Solo: A Star Wars Story (due out May 25), followed by Episode IX (Dec. 20, 2019).

How many Star Wars movies does Disney plan to release every year, anyway?

What Happens to the 'Star Wars' Stand-Alone Movies Now?

Tuesday brought big news for a galaxy far, far away. Game of Thrones producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have signed on to create a new series of Star Wars movies, with the announcement from Lucasfilm coming just months after November’s revelation that Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson is developing his own trilogy for the franchise.

The latest news is a hint at where Lucasfilm is looking to take the Star Wars property as a whole, but one that raises an obvious question: What’s happening to the stand-alone Star Wars Story movies?

As originally announced, the Star Wars Story films were to alternate with the new episodes of the central series of movies, later defined by the studio as the “Skywalker Saga.” The Story pics would be one-offs, exploring parts of the galaxy that the core storyline left untouched, and allowing new filmmakers to come in and give their own voices to the property as a whole; the directors initially connected to the Story movies were young and up-and-coming, suggesting that this could be the future of the franchise, and a way to expand it beyond what had previously existed.

And then, things went wrong. A lot.

It’s fair to say that none of the Star Wars Story movies have been smooth sailing to date. First, filmmaker Josh Trank was removed from the second of the stand-alone movies after reports of difficult behavior on Fox’s Fantastic Four set. (Fantastic Four flopped resoundingly; it’s worth noting that Lucasfilm also removed original Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow after his Book of Henry failed in a similarly public manner.) Rogue One underwent extensive reworking in postproduction, with veteran helmer Tony Gilroy taking over the movie to get it to meet Lucasfilm’s expectations. (It ultimately became a critical and commercial hit.) Most recently, Solo directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord were fired just weeks away from the end of principal photography, with another veteran, Ron Howard, installed to finish the film.

With that kind of batting average, it’s understandable that Lucasfilm might be rethinking the entire Star Wars Story program. With fans still clamoring for spinoffs such as a Boba Fett solo film and an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie to be directed by Stephen Daldry, it’s possible that audiences can expect more stand-alone films in the future. But it's also easy to imagine that Lucasfilm could quietly fold the initiative altogether. (Even if it doesn’t, Daldry is hardly the upcoming new talent that the Story movies seemed to be initially promoting, so there’s been some internal rethinking under way.)

If the Story pics continue, the fact of two upcoming new Star Wars series running concurrently might mean that there’s little to no space on the release schedule for stand-alone movies across the next few years. (Unless, of course, Disney and Lucasfilm intend to increase the release schedule for Star Wars post-2019, when the final episode of the “Skywalker Saga” finishes; that is definitely a possibility given the success of the last three Star Wars movies.) Could the ramping up of new, continuing Star Wars properties be the excuse Lucasfilm needed to shelve the stand-alones until a later date, when the machine will run more smoothly — or, at least, not break down so publicly?

One per month. I imagine this will come after the Rian Johnson one and both may replace the "Star Wars story" movies, so we still get one main saga movie every other month?

How many Star Wars movies does Disney plan to release every year, anyway?