Credit: LucasfilmAfter co-creating one of the most successful serialized dramas of all time — HBO’s Game of Thrones — you’d think showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be treated like, well, TV royalty. However, that wasn’t exactly the case, as Lucasfilm famously rejected the duo’s script for a Star Wars movie back in 2019, only to resurrect a similar idea with different writers mere years later. Now, the pair is spilling the beans on their scrapped Star Wars project, sharing new insights into what could’ve been.
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To say that the public reception of Disney’s Star Wars Sequel Trilogy was mixed would be a gross understatement. Even today, nearly ten years after the premiere of J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015), the adventures of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and their plight against Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver) and the tyrannical First Order remain highly controversial among fans.
While it’s difficult to say what exactly went wrong with the Sequel Trilogy, many place the blame on Disney switching creative direction for Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017), which was helmed by Rian Johnson. The result was a tonally jumbled trilogy that staggered to the finish line in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), leaving thousands of fans disillusioned with Disney’s handling of George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away.
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Initially, Lucasfilm planned to follow up The Rise of Skywalker with another movie, tapping Game of Thrones alums Benioff and Weiss to write and direct. However, the project was scrapped under mysterious circumstances, leading many to speculate about why it didn’t become a reality — the unpopularity of the rushed Game of Thrones series finale being one widely believed theory. Now, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmakers are taking some time to discuss what actually happened to their Star Wars collaboration, marking the first time they’ve openly addressed the subject.
During the interview, Weiss and Benioff revealed that the movie would’ve followed the first Jedi to rise in the Star Wars galaxy, with the duo originally wanting to call it The First Jedi. “We wanted to do The First Jedi,” Benioff told the outlet. “Basically how the Jedi Order came to be, why it came to be, the first lightsaber…”
However, higher-ups at Lucasfilm weren’t so keen to green-light a movie that followed the early days of the Jedi, and it was ultimately shelved along with other Star Wars projects from other top creatives like Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Patty Jenkins, and Damon Lindelof. Because of this, Weiss joked that he and Benioff were “annoyed as hell” when Johnson, who happens to be the pair’s longtime, called his movie The Last Jedi, adding, “He completely destroyed the obvious title for what we were working on.”
Although Weiss was simply being sarcastic, it would be completely understandable why he and Benioff would be frustrated with their brief tenure at Lucasfilm — especially now that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) director James Mangold is spearheading a Dawn of the Jedi movie, which was announced during Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023.
When asked what went wrong with their First Jedi film, Benioff explained that Lucasfilm “ended up not wanting to do a First Jedi story,” adding, “We had a very specific story idea in mind, and ultimately they decided they didn’t want to do that.” However, there indeed were no hard feelings, as Benioff clarified, “We totally get it. It’s their company and their IP, but we weren’t the droids they were looking for.”
It’s unclear whether or not Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi project will incorporate some creative DNA from Weiss and Benioff’s axed Star Wars movie, but from the sounds of it, the writing team has made their peace with not penning a story set in the galaxy far, far away. Still, it’s worth noting that the duo has managed to leave Westeros behind them as they have since moved on to develop the upcoming 3 Body Problem for Netflix, a science fiction series based on Liu Cixin’s novel of the same name.
Lucasfilm continues to look to the future after making the shift to Disney+ following the end of the Skywalker Saga, launching projects such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka show, which was just renewed for a second season. But now, it looks like the studio is ready to take audiences back to movie theaters with a diverse slate of upcoming adventures, including a “Mando-Verse” crossover movie, Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s untitled Rey film, and most recently, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which Jon Favreau will helm.
With several exciting film and TV projects in the pipeline, it seems, frankly, bizarre that Lucasfilm didn’t have the foresight to keep David Benioff and D.B. Weiss on board for their planned Star Wars movie, considering that clearly, studio execs were interested in exploring the early days of the Jedi Order. Ultimately, it seems like this was simply a case of “right idea, wrong time,” and thankfully, it appears that the writing duo holds no resentment towards Lucasfilm. Still, it’ll be interesting to see if the team returns to Star Wars in the future, perhaps to consult on James Mangold’s film.
Would you have wanted to see David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ take on Star Wars, or are you too scarred by the Game of Thrones series finale? Let us know in the comments below!