After much speculation, it appears we finally know for certain which team is working on the next Star Wars film: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners of HBO’s Game of Thrones, will head to the galaxy far, far away, and their film will be the first to hit theaters after The Rise of Skywalker.
The news came from today’s MoffetNathanson Media & Communications summit. According to io9, Walt Disney Company chairman Bob Iger told the crowd, “We did a deal with David Benioff and D.B Weiss, who are famous for Game of Thrones, and the next movie that we release will be theirs.” Iger wouldn’t comment on what their film will be about, when it will be set, or any additional details about its production.
We’ve known for a while that Benioff and Weiss would step into the world of Star Wars, but this the first confirmation we have that theirs will be the next film to make it to the big screen. Just last week, Disney announced their upcoming slated releases, where we learned that the first post-Skywalker-saga Star Wars film will be released on December 18, 2022, almost three years to the date after The Rise of Skywalker.
Iger spoke of the decision to wait that long for more Star Wars at the summit. “The conclusion that we reached was that three years was the proper amount of time to not only take a breather and reset, but to really gear up for the next film’s release,” he said.
In addition to Benioff and Weiss, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is also set to write, produce, and possibly direct a new Star Wars trilogy, although no announcements regarding his project has been made. Benioff and Weiss are currently wrapping up the final season of Game of Thrones, which will air its series finale this Sunday. The last season has received mixed reviews, so it will be interesting to see what kind of larger story the two can create and if can avoid the same criticisms in the galaxy far, far away.
We’ll all find out together in 2022.
Images: Disney, Lucasfilm, HBO