- The real reason why the "Game of Thrones"
showrunners left "Star Wars?"
The latest trailer for "The Mandalorian,"
the live action "Star Wars" show for Disney Plus
dropped Monday night,
and boy howdy the spot was filled to the brim
with everything we love about the galaxy far far away.
Super battle droids, shoulder mounted blasters, jet packs.
(phone rings)
Oh, one second.
Excuse me.
Wait?
What happened in the "Star Wars" news last night?
You're kidding?
Okay, huh.
Thank you!
Well, what we though was the biggest "Star Wars" news
to happen this week was the trailer
for "The Mandalorian" dropping
but it turns out the bigger news
was "Game of Thrones" showrunners
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss dropping out
of the next "Star Wars" Trilogy.
In case you need a refresher,
before "Game of Thrones" final season
Lucas Film announced that Dave and D. B.,
or D and D as fans call them,
were going to write, produce, and possibly
direct the next "Star Wars" film set for 2022.
They would be the guiding hands to kick off
a new trilogy of "Star Wars" films,
the first beyond the Sky Walker Saga that is set to end
in December's Episode IX.
Now, depending on what they thought
of "Game of Thrones" final season
this news filled fans with either
excitement or dread.
However all of the anxiety and apprehension
poofed away when shortly after the debut
of "The Mandalorian" trailer,
deadline revealed that the duo was stepping away
from Lucas Film and "Star Wars."
Now, why would they be turning their back on a Star War?
Well, a little bit of backstory is needed.
According to the Hollywood trade magazines,
in August the pair had scored a major
$250 million deal with Netflix
and they cite that specific obligation
as their reason for leaving "Star Wars".
In a statement two deadline, they said
"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."
The statement went on to say "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."
Lucas Film head honcho Kathleen Kennedy responded
to the departure by saying
"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."
Now, all of this feels pretty simple on the surface
but would you believe it?
Fans are not entirely convinced.
And they would be justified in that belief.
There are a ton of moving parts here,
so let's dive in to what really could have
caused this split.
First up, it could just be that there is
too much on their plate.
It's no joke that Benioff and Weiss
are going to be super busy with their $250 million
Netflix deal which will see them creating content
for the streaming giant for the next five years.
However, while the so long to "Star Wars" seemed amicable,
the timing is very suspicious.
If you haven't seen Monday's Nerdist news,
over the weekend D and D finally opened up
to audiences about their experience on "Game of Thrones"
at Austin Film Festival, and what they said
did not paint them in the best light to fans.
Especially those who were displeased with how
the show wrapped up this year.
Plus, it's no secret that "Star Wars" has had some
very public break ups and firings with certain
creative teams in the past few years.
There was "Fantastic Four" director Josh Trank's
Boba Fett film that was quietly killed
before it was announced.
Colin Trevorrow left Episode IX before
it started filming after his panned film
"The Book of Henry"
and Phil Lord and Chris Miller were publicly
replaced on "Solo: A Star Wars Story"
in the middle of production.
And while nobody is saying this is a firing,
the timing of this exit happening so close
to fan outrage is leaving some scratching their heads.
On top of that, with the Disney Plus streaming service
set to premiere in two weeks,
Disney is now a direct competitor with Netflix
and things haven't been quite peaceful between the two.
Reportedly, TV channels associated
with Disney have dropped commercials for any
and all Netflix content.
This has led many to suspect that this could be a case
of Netflix flexing their contract muscle
to get D and D away from making something
for their competitor.
So where does all of this land?
In all likelihood, the real truth is somewhere
in the middle of all of these.
While Benioff and Weiss working on "Star Wars"
was announced in April, their Netflix deal
that was finalized in August gave the two
a lot of obligations that they didn't originally have.
And maybe some fan outrage and corporate hardball
greased the wheels for something that was bound
to happen eventually, kind of similar
to the recent situation where Kevin Feige
was too busy to work on "Spider Man" when
Disney and Sony weren't seeing eye to eye
over the next wall crawler movie.
As for the fan reaction to their departure
for "Star Wars", well let's just say it appeared
most of them are on board for this news.
Many in the Sci-Fi Fantasy community
claim that D and D rushed the ending
to "Game of Thrones" so that they could
work on "Star Wars".
And loosing their "Star Wars" because
they rushed "Game of Thrones" and ruined the ending,
has fans feeling pretty vindicated.
To be honest, we're sure D and D aren't crying
themselves to sleep with their $250 million Netflix Deal.
(cash register chiming)
So, what does this mean for "Star Wars?"
While, on the TV side there is a lot in store
for Disney Plus with "The Mandalorian,"
the Cassian Andor series, the return of the "Clone Wars,"
and an Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
But on the film side, things seem to be up in the air.
Benioff and Weiss' "Star Wars" was supposed
to kick off a new era, and it was the next film
on their slate.
Maybe the project they were working on
gets transferred to new talent.
Maybe Ryan Johnson's upcoming trilogy
gets moved in to this slot.
Or maybe all of this is the reason
Kevin Feige's "Star Wars" movie
was announced a few weeks ago.
Disney knew this departure was coming
and Feige's film is going to take its place.
We wouldn't be shocked if that's the case.
But, what do you folks think?
What do you think the next "Star Wars" film will be?
Did you like "The Mandalorian" trailer?
- [Mandalorian] Yeah.
- And who do you want to see tackle
a Star War?
Let's discuss.
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