Dan Weiss and David Benioff’s Canceled ‘Star Wars’ Film Would Have Explored the First Jedi
There was a time when it looked like the future of a galaxy, far, far away, was in the hands of Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss.
In 2018, Lucasfilm announced that it had agreed to a deal with the duo that would see the award-winning screenwriters move the franchise away from the Skywalker saga.
Benioff and Weiss Wanted to Explore the Early Jedi
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the duo revealed that their planned Star Wars film would have explored the early days of the Jedi.
“We wanted to do The First Jedi,” Benioff said. “Basically, how the Jedi Order came to be, why it came to be, the first lightsaber.”
Photo: Also Lucasfilm
“And we were annoyed as hell when [Rian Johnson, the duo’s longtime friend and collaborator] called his movie ‘The Last Jedi,’” Weiss says dryly. “He completely destroyed the obvious title for what we were working on.”
The Project Was Shelved in 2019
While expectations for Benioff and Weiss’ Star Wars story were high, by October 2019 the duo’s project was shelved.
“We love Star Wars,” they told Deadline at the time. “When George Lucas built it, he built us too. 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.”
Photo: Also Star Wars
“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,” the statement continued. “So we are regretfully stepping away.”
Lucasfilm Was Not Interested in the Story
As it turns out, the real reason that Benioff and Weiss left the project was that Lucasfilm was not interested in the story that the duo wanted to tell.
Photo: Hollywood Reporter
“[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. And we totally get it. It’s their company and their IP, but we weren’t the droids they were looking for.”Benioff explained.
Interestingly, Benioff and Weiss’ idea seems to have lived on in James Mangold’s upcoming Dawn of the Jedi film.
Photo: Also Lucasfilm
As it turns out, good ideas never die.
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