The Game of Thrones showrunners are making the next Star Wars movie


The creators of Game of Thrones are officially trading one fictional world full of scum and villainy for another in 2022.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed on Tuesday that the next Star Wars film after The Rise of Skywalker will come from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, io9 reports.
Lucasfilm had announced in early 2018 that Benioff and Weiss would helm "a new series of Star Wars films," which were to be separate from both the main Skywalker saga and from a trilogy of films written and directed by The Last Jedi's Rian Johnson. But there have been few updates on the project since then, and when Disney announced last week the next Star Wars installment after The Rise of Skywalker would be released in 2022, it wasn't clear what this movie was. We now know it's one of the previously announced Benioff and Weiss films, which is still moving forward as planned.
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Iger on Tuesday did not confirm whether Benioff and Weiss are still working on a "series" of films, though, just saying they're set to make the "next movie." Disney has also dated two more Star Wars movies for 2024 and 2026 but hasn't said whether these will be sequels to the Benioff and Weiss movie or if either will be a Johnson film.
Lucasfilm said in 2017 Johnson would write and direct a trilogy focused on "a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored." It was thought this would be totally separate from the Benioff and Weiss series, but Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy told Entertainment Weekly in April that Benioff and Weiss are "working very closely" with Johnson.
For now, the final installment of the main Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is set for release on Dec. 20.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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