Following Solo: A Star Wars Story's disappointing take at the box office, Disney CEO Bob Iger suggested Lucasfilm's aggressive release schedule would slow down after Star Wars: Episode IX, and several Star Wars anthology films have reportedly been shelved. However, it doesn't sound like that slowdown will affect the films from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
While speaking to TVLine, President of HBO Programming Casey Bloys revealed that the pair are currently scheduled to move onto three planned Star Wars films before returning to HBO. “Dan and David are finishing up the final season [of Game of Thrones] and then they are going to go into the Star Wars universe,” Bloys said. “When they come out of that, I assume they will come back to us... It’s hard to say to someone, ‘You can’t go do Star Wars. They love it. It’s a childhood dream. They’ll go do that, remember why they love television and come back.”
RELATED: Star Wars: Episode IX's Rumored Villain May Bring Balance to the Franchise
One Star Wars film has premiered every year since 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Bloys' statement makes it sound like Benioff and Weiss will get to work on their trilogy quite soon, so it seems likely fans will see it sooner rather than later. The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is also developing his own future Star Wars films, and it's unclear at this time how those films will affect those of Benioff and Weiss.
When they return to HBO, Benioff and Weiss are slated to produce the controversial Confederate. The series centers around an alternate version of the United States, where the southern states successfully seceded from the nation following the Civil War. The creative team for Confederate includes writer-producers Nichelle Tramble Spellman (The Good Wife) and Malcolm Spellman (Empire).
RELATED: RUMOR: Star Wars: Episode IX Details Regarding Lando's Role
Directed by JJ Abrams, Star Wars: Episode IX stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. It is scheduled to open on Dec. 20.