Game of Thrones showrunners to make shows for Netflix in massive deal
The Game of Thrones showrunners are going to Netflix.
The streaming service has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Emmy winners David Benioff and Dan Weiss to create new shows and movies, EW has confirmed.
The deal comes after a months-long bidding war for the duo between HBO’s WarnerMedia, Netflix, Amazon, and Disney.
Many assumed Disney would have the inside track, as Benioff and Weiss are also working on a mysterious new Star Wars trilogy for that studio.
“We are thrilled to welcome master storytellers David Benioff and Dan Weiss to Netflix,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos in a statement. “They are a creative force and have delighted audiences worldwide with their epic storytelling. We can’t wait to see what their imaginations will bring to our members.”
Benioff and Weiss issued this statement: “We’ve had a beautiful run with HBO for more than a decade and we’re grateful to everyone there for always making us feel at home. Over the past few months we’ve spent many hours talking to Cindy Holland and Peter Friedlander, as well as Ted Sarandos and Scott Stuber. We remember the same shots from the same ’80s movies; we love the same books; we’re excited about the same storytelling possibilities. Netflix has built something astounding and unprecedented, and we’re honored they invited us to join them.”
According to Deadline, which first reported the news, the deal is worth nine figures — similar to the massive overall Netflix deals signed by showrunner talents such as Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy.
In addition to their first Star Wars film, which is planned for 2022, Benioff and Weiss have a couple other previously announced projects in the pipeline as well, such as a prison-break drama titled Dirty White Boys. An alternate-history drama series titled Confederate was announced by HBO to considerable controversy in 2017, but that project has been presumed shelved for quite some time.
While the recent final season of GoT strongly divided fans, the run also resulted in nearly 45 million viewers per episode for HBO in the U.S. alone, as well as a record 32 Emmy nominations.
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