David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have quit their planned series of Star Wars movies, leaving them with only their $200 million Netflix deal for comfort.

The former Game of Thrones showrunners were announced as the writers and producers of a new Star Wars film series last February with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy complimenting their "command of complex characters, depth of story and richness of mythology." This was, of course, months before Game of Thrones' much maligned final season premiered.

It was also months before they signed a $200 million film and TV deal with Netflix, which they credit as the reason they are now leaving the galaxy far, far away.

"There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects," Benioff and Weiss said to Deadline. "So we are regretfully stepping away."

Many Star Wars fans welcomed this news, having been concerned about the new projects in light of the direction in which the pair took Game of Thrones. It also comes fresh off a viral Twitter thread chronicling a panel discussion where the two outlined the many mistakes they made and extra chances they were given at the outset of Game of Thrones, leading to a heated discussion online about privilege and failing upwards.

Benioff & Weiss had no idea what they were doing. But they were still given a budget of $6 million per episode. Their pilot was terrible, they made constant mistakes *and they talk about it openly*. Tell me which woman writers in Hollywood have ever had this kind of privilege. https://t.co/5e8hyKfqi5 — Strix literally means witch 🦇🎃🧙🏼‍♀️ (@the_strix) October 27, 2019

At this point the modern Star Wars films have had more directors exit planned projects than make said planned projects.



Premature exits:

Trank

Trevorrow

Lord & Miller

Benioff & Weiss



Actually made Star Wars movies:

Abrams

Edwards

Johnson

Howard — Terri Schwartz (@Terri_Schwartz) October 29, 2019

I buy that Weiss & Benioff were given a massive payday by Disney’s biggest competitor and were pressured to step back. There’s legit bad blood between the 2 corps. Biggest rivalry in showbiz right now. — robliefeld (@robertliefeld) October 29, 2019

Even so, the door has been left open for them to return to the galaxy far, far away once their multi-million, multiyear Netflix obligations have concluded.

"David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers," Kennedy said in a statement. "We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars."