Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are joining the Star Wars galaxy.
The duo will write and produce a new series of films, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Tuesday.
“David and Dan are some of the best storytellers working today,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “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.”
The new film series will be separate from the trilogy that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is developing, and will also stand alone from the Skywalker Saga, which J.J. Abrams is working on with the upcoming Episode IX. No release dates have been set for the series from the HBO power duo.
“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.”
Benioff and Weiss' Star Wars involvement immediately puts the future of HBO's controversial slave drama Confederate in question. The duo were set to write and serve as showrunners on the straight-to-series drama alongside Nichelle Tramble Spellman (Justified, The Good Wife) and Malcolm Spellman (Empire), who will also serve as writers.
The concept of the show — which takes place in an alternate timeline where the Southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution — immediately drew controversy. That series was eyed to launch in either 2018 or 2019, after Benioff and Weiss completed their work on the final season of Thrones.
With the delay of Thrones' final season as well as their involvement in Star Wars — for which there is no timetable — the future of the project remains murky. HBO did not immediately respond for comment on the future of Confederate.
During a Disney earnings call Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said talks with Benioff and Weiss, repped by CAA, had been ongoing "for a long time."
"They have an idea for number of films and at some later date I'm sure we'll disclose to all of you just what those are," Iger said. "They are focused on a point in time in the Star Wars mythology and taking it from there."
Next up on the docket for Lucasfilm is Solo: A Star Wars Story (due out May 25), followed by Episode IX (Dec. 20, 2019).