“Game of Thrones” Duo Out at “Star Wars”: Let the Wild Speculation Begin

by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 29, 2019

The big news this morning is that the creators of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have quit their planned Star Wars movie trilogy. 

Toss in the mix that Rian Johnson was vague in a recent interview about his continued Star Wars work, and we have the perfect storm for Star Wars fans to speculate wildly – including pointing fingers – about what’s going on and where things might be headed on the big screen in a galaxy far, far away.

Benioff and Weiss were expected to write and produce three Star Wars movies slated for released in each December of 2022, 2024 and 2026. But the duo also signed a big Netflix deal in August. So, perhaps the exit fromStar Warsshouldn’t be all that surprising.

As for Star Wars, Disney has a pretty robust slate coming, including “The Mandalorian” Disney+ series from Jon Favreau coming with the launch of the streaming service on November 12, with another two more live-action series slated – a Rogue One prequel and an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor – and of course, the arrival of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters on December 20.

And what about the recent news that Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige also was developing a Star Wars movie?

Here’s my speculation that only comes from the hope of a fan: Kathleen Kennedy, who has not exactly thrived at the helm of Star Wars, steps back along with the various players she brought in – i.e., Johnson and the Thrones’ duo – and storytellers like Feige and Favreau step forward more prominently.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.