Game of Thrones showrunners say Lucasfilm shot down their Star Wars movie, but it's happening without them

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have briefly discussed what went wrong with their Star Wars project, but facts don't line up.

As part of The Hollywood Reporter's extensive feature on the duo's past and present, which includes the gigantic Three-Body Problem series for Netflix, Benioff and Weiss finally unveiled what happened to their loudly-announced plans for a new trilogy of Star Wars movies. The creatives exited the project in 2019, following the less-than-ideal reception the final Game of Thrones season garnered, so much has been theorized and written about the whys and hows behind the decision.

According to them, it was just a matter of Lucasfilm not wanting to move in the same direction (a common occurrence) as them: "[Lucasfilm] ended up not wanting to do a First Jedi story. We had a very specific story idea in mind, and ultimately they decided they didn’t want to do that. And we totally get it. It’s their company and their IP, but we weren’t the droids they were looking for." This is, however, a weird comment, as Lucasfilm proudly announced not one but three movies coming from the duo via official channels, something which normally doesn't happen unless you've at least figured out a basic pitch with the powers that be.

Benioff said they wanted to do "The First Jedi... Basically how the Jedi Order came to be, why it came to be, the first lightsaber." If you've been living under a rock for the past year or so, you're probably thinking it's a shame that story will never be told. Well, it's actually still happening, as one of the movies formally announced last year at Star Wars Celebration was a 'Dawn of the Jedi' type of story from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold that is set to follow that exact same premise. Maybe the studio simply didn't like their specific take on the pitch once they started developing it.

On top of the Mangold-captained 'Jedi origins' movie, which could borrow (or not) elements from the ambitious 2012-2014 Dark Horse Comics series, Lucasfilm has in active development a Rey-centric Star Wars sequel set after the events of Episode IX, a New Republic-era crossover event from Dave Filoni, and a newly-announced 'Mandalorian & Grogu' flick that will probably lead into Filoni's larger feature. The next date in Disney's theatrical release calendar attached to Star Wars is May 22, 2026, which sounds perfectly doable if the latter movie starts shooting this year.