‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners Explain Why Their ‘Star Wars’ Movie Didn’t Happen: ‘We Weren’t the Droids They Were Looking For’

We finally have some insight into why a “Star Wars” movie from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss never happened – and it has to do with an origin story. The former “Game of Thrones” showrunners opened up about the creative differences between their vision and Lucasfilm in a recent profile in The Hollywood Reporter.

According to Benioff, the pair wanted their movie to be titled “The First Jedi.” It would focus on how the Jedi Order came about, how the first lightsaber was constructed and other origin details.

“[Lucasfilm] ended up not wanting to do a First Jedi story. We had a very specific story idea in mind, and ultimately they decided they didn’t want to do that,” Benioff said. “And we totally get it. It’s their company and their IP, but we weren’t the droids they were looking for.”

Weiss also admitted that the duo was “annoyed as hell” with director Rian Johnson for naming his “Star Wars” installment “The Last Jedi.” “He completely destroyed the obvious title for what we were working on,” Weiss said.

There is no bad blood between the two creatives and Johnson. The “Knives Out” director serves as one of the executive producers on Benioff and Weiss’ upcoming Netflix Sci-fi series, “3 Body Problem.”

Benioff and Weiss were originally reported to be working on a trilogy of films set in the “Star Wars” universe. In 2019, the two walked away from the project.

“We love ‘Star Wars.’ When George Lucas built it, he built us too,” Benioff and Weiss said in a joint statement at the time. “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.”

Two months before walking away from the trilogy, the duo signed an exclusive deal with Netflix that included TV and movies and was reportedly worth $200 million. So far, that deal has led to the release of “The Chair,” the short-lived drama about collegiate politics that starred Sandra Oh, and the upcoming sci-fi epic “3 Body Problem.” Based on the novel Liu Cixin and co-created by Alexander Woo, the series is set to premiere on March 21.

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