By Ben Travis | Posted 29 Oct 2019

Once Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker arrives this December, the saga is heading into unexplored territory – reportedly leaving the central trilogy of trilogies alone, and venturing off into new parts of the galaxy. And while the first season of live-action streaming series The Mandalorian is already in the can, to later be joined by a series focusing on Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars’ more immediate cinematic future was to be in the hands of Game Of Thrones show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. But not any more – according to Deadline, the duo have stepped away from their proposed Star Wars movie trilogy.

The pair released a statement about their departure from the franchise, citing their recent Netflix deal as the main reason for leaving their Star Wars project. “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,” they said. “So we are regretfully stepping away.” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy responded with a statement saying: “David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. 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.”

The Benioff and Weiss trilogy was due to begin in 2022 – though it remains to be seen if the project they were working on will continue with that release date and be taken up by another filmmaker or writer. Elsewhere in the franchise’s future plans, The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson is set to work on his own new Star Wars trilogy, and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has also been reported as working on a Star Wars film project. Stay tuned for more details on how Benioff and Weiss’ departure will affect the future Star Wars schedule – whether that’s a different creator coming aboard (you up for being the hero again, JJ?), Johnson’s trilogy shifting forwards, or something else entirely.