Game Of Thrones Creators Reveal What Happened To Their Star Wars Movie
Back when Game of Thrones fever was at its height, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were offered every nerd’s dream job: directing their own Star Wars film. However, after the intense backlash to the final season of Game of Thrones (and after landing an exclusive deal with Netflix), their film set in a galaxy far, far away was canceled in 2019.
Fans have spent years speculating about what that movie would have been about, and the creators have now revealed that they wanted to make a movie called The First Jedi that would have focused on the formation of the Jedi Order.
The First Jedi Could’ve Introduced New Characters
From a storytelling standpoint, this could have been a very original Star Wars movie. One of the most common criticisms of the Sequel Trilogy was that, once again, everything revolved around the Skywalker family, and the initial success of The Mandalorian proved how hungry the fandom is for original characters. With The First Jedi, Disney could have had its blue milk and drank it, too, by giving fans the lightsaber battles they crave while still centering the film around completely original characters.
The First Lightsaber
Speaking of lightsabers, one of the things that Benioff and Weiss wanted to do with their Star Wars movie was to show the creation of the first lightsaber. The duo wanted to break this mythic universe down and analyze crunchy questions, including why the Jedi Order was created and (presumably) why they decided to fight with laser swords instead of…well…lasers.
Such a story might have won over Star Wars fans because even popular stories set thousands of years before the birth of Luke Skywalker (like the excellent Tales of the Jedi comics) still dealt with Jedi Knights and lightsabers as pre-existing forces that needed no origin story.
Trouble Began Early
However, even before Benioff and Weiss received official word that their Star Wars movie was canceled, they knew it was in trouble. As soon as the two heard that Rian Johnson would be directing a film called The Last Jedi, they understandably despaired.
They had a very cool title in mind that told audiences exactly what to expect, but they knew there was no way Disney would greenlight a movie called The First Jedi because audiences would expect it to be tied to Johnson’s film in some way.
Dawn Of The Jedi Takes Its Place
As it turns out, Disney canceled the Star Wars project anyway; regardless of name shenanigans, Benioff and Weiss revealed that Disney just wasn’t interested in making a movie about the origin of the Jedi. That could potentially be changing, however, as the House of Mouse has now greenlit a movie from Logan director James Mangold titled Dawn of the Jedi.
Mangold is a solid director, and we’re confident that he’ll deliver an interesting movie, but it’s still tantalizing to think what a Star Wars origin story with the aesthetics and vibe of Game of Thrones might have been like.
Disney Doesn’t Know What To Do With Star Wars?
If nothing else, we were happy to learn more about what this directorial duo was planning to do with a Star Wars movie because Disney went through a period of canceling Star Wars projects left and right. From the outside looking in, this seems to be a sign that Disney doesn’t know quite what to do with the franchise they paid billions to acquire.
David Benioff and Dan Weiss ultimately won’t be the ones to show this franchise where to go, but if they help inspire Mangold’s film, then it’s fair to say that these Game of Thrones showrunners were at least able to hold the door (open, that is).Source: The Hollywood Reporter
