New York Daily News

‘Thrones’ duo too busy for ‘Star Wars’

- BY PETER SBLENDORIO

The co-creators of the “Game of Thrones” series will not be traveling to a galaxy far, far away.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are parting ways with an upcoming “Star Wars” film trilogy scheduled to begin in 2022 that they were slated to lead, the duo announced.

“We love ‘Star Wars.’ When George Lucas built it, he built us, too,” Benioff and Weiss said in a statement. “Getting to talk about ‘Star Wars’ with him and the current ‘Star Wars’ team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything.”

But, the pair said, “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. So we are regretfull­y stepping away.”

The 2022 film is set to kick off a new era in the “Star Wars” universe; “The Rise of Skywalker,” out Dec. 20, will be the ninth and final installmen­t to the Skywalker saga.

“David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytelle­rs,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen 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.’ ”

Disney announced in May three new “Star Wars” movies are on the way, with an installmen­t hitting theaters around Christmas every two years beginning in 2022.

Benioff and Weiss’ deal with “Star Wars” was revealed in 2018, and they were attached to the 2022 film earlier this year.

In addition to being co-creators on the wildly popular HBO show “Game of Thrones,” Benioff (inset l.) and Weiss (inset r.) wrote episodes for that series and served as its showrunner­s.

In August, the Hollywood Reporter revealed Benioff, 49, and Weiss, 48, had inked a fiveyear, $250 million deal with Netflix.

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