The Star Wars universe just keeps getting bigger! Lucasfilm has announced yet another new batch of Star Wars films, to be written and produced by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Yes, that’s separate from both the Skywalker saga (which will conclude in 2019 with Episode IX) and The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s recently announced trilogy of films exploring a whole other corner of the galaxy far, far away.
Interestingly, the official announcement refers to Weiss and Benioff’s project as a “series” of films and Johnson’s as a “trilogy,” so it’s unclear how many they will make.
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said in the official announcement. “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.”
“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.”
While there are a number of potential Game of Thrones spinoff series in the works, the showrunners were never involved in their development. In mid-2017, they had announced that they were developing a series for HBO called Confederate, an alternate-history take on the Civil War, but the announcement raised a lot of controversy over such plot points as slavery still being legal. According to Variety, HBO has not commented on whether Confederate is still in the works. Game of Thrones’ final season is expected to air sometime in 2019.
In addition to these new series, Lucasfilm is also developing a standalone Obi-Wan Kenobi film; a Boba Fett solo movie has also been rumored but not confirmed.
I can’t help but think this is a terrible idea. But on the plus side, given Lucasfilm’s track record, they will probably be pulled off the project before too much damage is done.
*Anakin just turned into Darth Vader in the last minutes of Revenge of the Sith’s voice”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Please, just stop, I don’t want them to ruin Game of Thrones AND Star Wars, maybe even Amazon’s Lord of the Rings with their perspective on how to make an adaptation of epic fantasy stories.
My first thought was to check the date and hope it was April 1st
@1 One can only hope!
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,”
Best is doing some particular lifting in that quote. By any technical metric, they are objectively terrible storytellers. They are, however, apparently very popular storytellers, so we are left with a ‘best’ that says nothing about quality and everything about capacity to move product.
Dear God, why? They’re terrible. Are we sure April Fools’ Day hasn’t come early?
Just think of the opportunities to show off alien space boobies!
@@.-@ They’re “popular storytellers” because their product is top-notch. The last season produced some of the finest tv episodes, not only in within the saga itself, but television in general. Since ever. Certainly helps they got the talents of Peter Dinklage and Lena Headley, for example, and gifted directors like Miguel Sapochnik (“Battle of the Bastards”). The fantasy genre, in particular, is being celebrated and reached mainstream in a way that didn’t happen before, specially on TV, and we will certainly be consuming many fantasy books because of this duo and, naturally, the works of G. R. R. Martin.
Not only they got the attention of award ceremonies, but the public, as well, which, many times, don’t go hand-in-hand, as we know. But it’s cool to hate wildly popular TV shows, just for the sake of hating. Usually, there’s no substance in said hating. It’s a byproduct of show-business and one we are used to.
I will say that they get stellar performances out of their actors, but I am not a fan of the way they plot thing or the way they explain their character motivations.
In the words of Rick McCallum, which seem oddly fitting: “This is fucking grim”
This is all just really funny to me because it’s coming on the heels of something that’s the equivalent of potentially worldview shattering news (long, long story and a lot of it is in my own head) and I’m honestly just sitting here laughing hysterically in a kind of ‘up is down and the world is fundamentally nonsensical’ way.
@@@@@ 7 – wait, what show were you watching? The one where none of the character’s motivations made sense? Where any semblance of plot or internal consistency went out the window? The one which actively forgot, ignored, or outright contradicted 6 years of it’s own storytelling and/or history? The one that decided they had a bunch of “twist!” endings to show, alongside some fanservice, and the other 55 minutes per episode or so were just filler to get there?
Benioff and Weiss are good at shooting a beautiful show, and that’s about it. Not too hard to do when you have GoT’s budget and ability to attract talented directors and actors.
On the bright side, Luke and Leia’s kiss may be completely forgotten by the time they’re done.
@10 – ahahaha, this totally calls for that “On a scale of Luke Skywalker to Jaime Lannister…” meme.
Knowing them, they’ll set their movies right in that time frame where Luke and Leia don’t know they’re related and theoretically still have ‘chemsitry’….
@7 I am watching a show that I enjoy very much without cynically scrutinizing it to the very last bit. Consequently, much of what you refer didn’t happen exactly as you say. Like I’ve mentioned before, when a show gets too popular, there are people who will tear it down, talking in broad points, almost never specifics, as if any other popular show didn’t suffer from the same “giant problems”.
@7 Usually, mere “beautiful shows” simply don’t collect an enormous amount of awards, being critically acclaimed for the last seven years, consistently.
Which they didn’t have in the first season, so the point is moot. And the second season. And I think the third too. I question if you even watch the show (probably not), because you would know that they cut major battles (no money for the “beautiful show”) because they simply didn’t have the budget for it. As the show progressed, it attracted more and and more viewers, forcing HBO to release a bigger budget to shoot some of the monstrous battle scenes.
That’s not good news. Not when you see what they did to A Song of Ice and Fire.
Um, so the two guys that have been writing the motivations and actions of Sansa and Arya Stark and their corresponding male counterparts the last three season are now being asked to take on Star Wars, a franchise which is consciously trying to not be a ‘boys superhero club’ anymore? The guys who are having to explain themselves out of rape scenes, gratuitous violence as well as pandering sex? This does not seem like a good fit at all.
I thought of that too.
@@@@@ Pedroooo – Popular shows get a bunch of undeserved awards and critical acclaim. You know, like how Modern Family still gets nominated year after year for awards despite having become thoroughly mediocre?
The creative staff on GoT couldn’t plot or script dialogue to save their lives. Which is why we get nonsense like “break the wheel” or “wars to come”; shit that sounds great in a trailer but is never actually explained or examined. There is a reason the plot, characterization, and dialogue goes totally to shit after Season 4 – it’s because that is when Benioff and Weiss have to have the slightest bit of creativity in creating character arcs, instead of copying and pasting out of the novels (for the most part).
The first three seasons of that show are amazing. The fourth is very good. The rest is garbage. I’m sure your a huge fan of the rape porn that constitutes a HUGE portion of Season 6? The meaningless stupidity and plot logic holes that are the entirety of Season 7?
I can talk to you for hours about specific instances of stupidity in the latter seasons of GoT. Literally, just about any 90 second clip will have one. Or of bad characterization. Of in-universe concepts, the kind of internal consistency that makes Westeros compelling and watchable, being discarded like a used rag. Why is Tyrion consistently shown as a genius, and rewarded for it, despite being a constant failure since his escape from Kings Landing? Why is Cersei still in power? Why doesn’t Jon Snow bother to ever tell anyone any actual details about the White Walkers that could corroborate his oft repeated (but never elaborated-on) mantra “the army of the dead is coming”? Why is Jaime still loyaly to Cersei after blowing up the Sept of Baelor, when we know the seminal moment in his life was betraying his oaths (and reputation) to protect the people of Kings Landing from…. Aerys blowing up the city with wildfire? Why is Highgarden completely undefended despite the previously-established supremacy of the Tyrells and the Reach? Why do Sansa and Arya play out their “charade” of distrusting one another, even if scenes where it’s only the two of them and the viewer?
That is just the tip of the iceberg for unanswerable, stupid, easily avoided mistakes. And it avoids even the touchier subjects like the removal of Dany’s intelligence and agency in favor of Tyrion, or Sansa’s rape storyline, or the complete idiocy about Stannis’ character arc, or Davos’ total lack of characterization, etc etc etc. Benioff and Weiss learned all the wrong lessons from the Red Wedding and Blackwater – those were amazing episodes in large part because they made sense. You get why the events happen, how the previous episodes inform the motivations for each of the characters and for the ensuing action. All the showrunners learned was “surprise twists mean big ratings!” and “big set-piece battles mean big ratings” and have geared every second since towards setting up as many of those moments as possible, and common sense or the intelligence of the viewer be damned.
Your ability to enjoy the show without scrutinizing it speaks poorly of you! Yes, sometimes entertainment should just be entertaining, but how do you watch the show and think “yeah, this all makes sense”? It objectively, incontrovertibly doesn’t. As I said, ignore all the controvery surrounding how POC and women are portrayed and the show still sucks, and has for a while. It’s coasting off the back of it’s early season success – people didn’t get on board with it when it was amazing, and now recent fans like yourself feel obligated to defend it, even in the face of it’s obvious awfulness, in order to help justify their late arrival in the first place and feel like part of an “in group”.
TL:DR, viewers are not being unreasonable to expect logical plots, respect for previously established facts, and sane characterization from a show. If they don’t get it, it’s not them hating on a great show to be edgy or some shit, it’s because a show that doesn’t have those things IS BAD.
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If there is anything that sums up the problems with Benioff and Weiss it is the scene last season where Jaime in desperation suicidally charges Dany and Drogon hoping to kill Dany and end her challenge to Cersei in one fell swoop. Bronn tackles him into the water just before the dragon roasts him. End episode. Begin next episode. Somehow Bronn and Jaime have swam across the river a couple hundred yards away from the battleground (Jaime in full armor) without anyone seeing them, especially the enormous angry dragon whose mother Jaime just tried to run through. This happens entirely offscreen between episodes.
It was the height of just plain lazy writing.
Buy will there be enough aliens? Or will this be another series that 90 percent of speaking roles go to humans?
@7 Pedrooo To be clear I said nothing about hating Game of Thrones. I love the show, it’s an incredible visual spectacle and as has been mentioned upstream, they have great talent working there. What I criticized specifically was the technicalty of their storytelling. In this particular instance, dealing with a work of adaptation, I would defy anyone to say that Game of Thrones tells a better story than A Song if I’ve and Fire.
I’m a capitalist. I’m pretty much as capitalist as a person can get without running afoul of the law. This is one of those rare times where I almost understand anti-capitalists.
The profit motive results in us getting both excellence and variety in entertainment. Somebody, somewhere is making the stuff you like and it gets to you because there’s money in it. But sometimes the drive to be too cute, too topical, to tick boxes on focus group generated lists in the pursuit of box office gold is just too much. Story, the feel of a created world (or galaxy far away), the themes, history and everything else that makes us love movies so much that we devote hours to quibbling over their details gets lost.
The Star Wars is already on thin ice with this. They simply cannot fuck with the franchise anymore. I fear that attempting to reinvent the peanut butter cup by cramming two hot properties together is a recipe for disaster.
No, I don’t worry that these future Star Wars films will have dragons. I worry that they’re hiring these people for a certain style they possess. It’s a style that is NOT Star Wars.
I really should like GOT on TV. I like what I’ve read. It’s not the greatest fantasy ever, but it’s pretty good. The TV show does nothing for me, god how I tried.
Maybe this will not be a disaster.
Putting aside the whole question of who’s going to be behind it, I now begin to see the potential for “Star Wars fatigue” on the horizon, something I thought would never exist for me. I already gave up trying to keep up on all fronts, but thought at least I could keep up with the movies. Maybe not?
Remember when Star Wars films were special?
@@@@@ 19 – I agree, but that at least is a forgivable mistake. I mean, some things need suspension of disbelief, and as poorly shot and blocked as that was, I find other things far less forgivable.
Jaime’s whole arc until Season 6 was his transformation from incestuous arrogant asshole, to person who lost his whole identity when he lost his sword hand, which forces him to confront his past actions. The reveal of him stopping the wildfire plot is meant to prime both us and Jaime to re-evaluate the “Kingslayer” moniker. And the show does this pretty well! His renewed insistence on maintaining his oaths, the creeping realization that not all is healthy and well with his relationship with Cersei… and then it gets abandoned whole hog in Season 6 & 7 especially, because having more characters in Cersei’s orbit means more Lena Headey, and the showrunners are far more concerned about increasing the screen time of their “stars” (Kit Harrington, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey) than in exploring the kind of fascinating internality and character development that has epitomized the greatest TV shows of the last decade or two like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, where the story of how the characters get from Point A to Point B and beyond is far more the point than merely showing beautiful camerawork, showcasing great acting, or revelling in the beauty and detail of the sets.
24, it is interesting how for years, the primary vehicle for media was outside the theater, it was quite a sudden moment when the news of “OMG, OMG, they’re making new Star Wars films” broke.
Now we can expect to get them with some regularity. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing in itself, mind you.
In regards to the “style” of Star Wars films, let’s look at the Marvel films. One of the best features IMHO of the Marvel films is how they DON’T have a consistent style. It’s not one story. Different stories need to have different styles, and some of the best Marvel films specifically do not ape the standard Marvel movie style.
Until I see what Benioff & Weiss (and Johnson, too) produce, I’m withholding judgement. Their films may provide a different but valid view of a Galaxy Far Far Away. Or they may not. But speculating in advance seems counter productive at best.
If you are only interested in the Skywalker Saga, then you only need to watch the Skywalker Saga films. No one is forcing you to watch the others. But if you want to go outside the box, then the others may also be of interest.
I really don’t understand those that think that the GOT producers will actually get to make Star Wars with sex and sexual violence…
28, it’s humor, not exactly serious.
Quite a few people believe it.
30, I’m speaking for myself, and I suspect others are also facetious, though I don’t doubt there are people who are looking for a salacious Sci-Fi Romp since Emmanuelle in Space and Lexx ended.
Oh, I wasn’t talking about you.
@28, I don’t think any of us believe that’s what we are going to get, which leads to the next question: “What is Kathleen Kennedy basing this decision off of?” Their skills have shown they are good at expanding GRRM’s gonzo writings, but less effective at tighter storytelling that does not revolve around sex and violence. Even with the sci-fi environment, most Star Wars characters are relatable. The characters in GoT are … manic, excessive, extreme, but not really relatable. In Star Wars we are shocked when Vader cuts off a hand, or when he bloodlessly throws people everywhere. Even Rogue One was subdued compared to your average GoT episode’s violence and gritty realism. As far as sex, even innuendo is pretty much unheard of in Star Wars. So I think its very reasonable to wonder why these gentlemen would be asked to work on Star Wars when they have made a name for themselves doing exactly what Star Wars has avoided and seemingly plans on avoiding.
@28/MaGnUs – I hope you’re right, but in a world (adopt best 90s movie trailer voice) where Quentin Tarantino is apparently going to get to direct an R-rated Star Trek movie, pretty much all bets are off…
In light of Tarantino’s support of Roman Polanski, I doubt he’ll get to make a Star Trek movie. Or at least, I hope he doesn’t.
People just love to be negative. I love Game of Thrones so I think this is a great choice. you naysayers might want to wait and see the moviesbefore denouncing them.