Disney announced Tuesday that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will write and produce yet-another new series of Star Wars films. As the announcement says, "these new films will be separate from both the episodic Skywalker saga and the recently-announced trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson."
That means, on top of the already-announced new trilogy from Johnson, there will be even more Star Wars films in production and Disney will effectively extend the franchise through the rest of your mortal life.
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm in a news release. “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.”
It's truly the nerd singularity, which will certainly provide all that Star Wars incest that writers of fan fiction have imagined since Empire Strikes Back.
“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.”
Johnson is currently working on a new Star Wars trilogy, which will be independent from the Skywalker saga—episodes one through nine--and take place somewhere and some time in the Star Wars universe. It's unclear if these will be films labeled 10, 11, and 12, or if Johnson's movies will start an all new series. The movies from Benioff and Weiss will similarly exist on their own, and it's equally unclear how this works with the Star Wars numbering system. All we know at this point is Disney is putting all of its efforts into building out the franchise as fast and as deeply as possible.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
