Small Council: How do we feel about David Benioff and Dan Weiss making Star Wars movies?

Disney has tapped Game of Thrones creators and showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss to “produce a new series of Star Wars films.” How do we feel about this? Will this be a worthy follow-up to their work on Thrones? Does this sound the death kneel for Confederate, their controversial would-be HBO epic? Where will their Star Wars project fit into the many others in production? Let’s discuss.

RAZOR: There’s a part of me that is really excited to see Benioff and Weiss take on the gargantuan task of creating a Star Wars film, and then there’s another part of me that is very worried Disney/Lucasfilm is beginning to flood the market with these movies, and that pretty soon, we will begin to see Star Wars fatigue from fans everywhere.

There are three films left in Phase 1 of Disney’s Star Wars plans: Solo: A Star Wars Story this May, Star Wars: Episode IX in December of 2019, and an unnamed Star Wars standalone film in 2020. After that, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson will begin work on an all-new non-Skywalker Star Wars film trilogy. So I ask my fellow council members this: Do we really need more Star Wars films interspersed between Johnson’s new trilogy?

It’s interesting that the announcement about Benioff and Weiss, which first broke on StarWars.com, uses the word “series.” In the past, Disney has always been very careful with its announcements. If there’s going to be a new trilogy, the Mouse names it as such. If there’s going to be a new standalone film, it is labeled as such. So what does a “series” of films mean?

Again, my concern is that Star Wars fatigue is going to set in, much as it has with superhero movies (see what’s happening with the DC Extended Universe), and I love this franchise too much to watch it become the new Transformers or Fast and the Furious, where every year, some director slaps together a bunch of awful CGI and bad acting, and vomits it out for public consumption. Color me skeptical at this point.

COREY: I can see your point, Razor. I would only say that people have problems with the DC Universe because those movies are, for the most part, terrible. I think there is still plenty of room out there for well-made superhero films, as there is room for well-made Star Wars films. I’m guessing Benioff and Weiss can make them well.

What I’m wondering is what kind of film they might make. Benioff and Weiss worked with adult content on Game of Thrones, and I assume they’ll do the same for Disney. But Disney, by and large, prides itself on creating wholesome content. Can D&D make something that exists within Disney’s restraints?

We’ve seen a recent streak of directors clash with Disney over the tone of their Star Wars movies, resulting in new directors being brought in midway through filming (Ron Howard replacing Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on Solo), and directors being fired before even getting started (Josh Trank) or somewhere in the middle (Colin Treverrow getting booted from Episode IX). By all accounts, D&D were given free reign at HBO, and stretched that long rope sometimes almost to the breaking point. Just look at that controversial Jaime-Cersei scene in the Great Sept after Joffrey’s death. Could D&D get away with that kind of thing under Disney?

As to the complaints that Disney should have hired a female and/or a person of color to handle new Star Wars movies, I get it. But from Disney’s standpoint, there are very few producers out there with the resume of Benioff and Weiss. Creating the world’s most popular show is a hell of a feather in the cap, and I think it was too much for the House of Mouse to pass over. Disney likes its profits, and they like them big. Benioff and Weiss are proven commodities who are likely to keep things in the green.

DAN: Corey, I’m gonna go ahead and call bullshit on that justification for why Disney isn’t hiring women and/or people of color to direct/write Star Wars movies. Star Wars doesn’t need big names behind the camera (or in front of it) to be successful — it’s plenty big enough by itself, and Disney knows that. Neither Rian Johnson, Colin Treverrow, nor Rogue One director Gareth Edwards are particularly well-known. Ditto for Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner and Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand. I don’t know why Disney isn’t diversifying behind the scenes — I’m guessing it just hasn’t occurred to the company to try — but it’s not because they require big names to ensure profits. They’ve already proven they don’t. And if they DID want someone with name recognition, there are plenty of qualified woman and people of color waiting in the wings, including Kathryn Bigelow, Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, Jordan Peele, Michelle MacLaren, Ava DuVernay and many more.

What I’m more concerned about is what Benioff and Weiss can bring to the Star Wars universe. They’ve done a lot of impressive things with Game of Thrones — managed complicated special effects, spun out a complicated narrative, made a popular phenomenon out of a fantasy franchise — and I understand why they’d be attractive to Disney. But I agree with Corey when he talks about the restraints Disney puts on its directors. Whatever movie(s) these guys end up making, it won’t really be David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ Star Wars. (Although I can already see the trailers: “From the creators of Game of Thrones comes a bold new vision of a galaxy far, far away…”) This will be Disney’s Star Wars, with David Benioff and Dan Weiss as workmen. It’s Disney’s rodeo — the directors just wrangle the animals.

I don’t really see Benioff and Weiss bringing much of anything unique to the Star Wars universe, because that’s not the way that universe works. So color me skeptical as well. Honestly, I’d rather see them do Confederate, their (I’m assuming) cancelled HBO project about an alternate history where the Civil War was fought to a standstill. That series stirred up a ton of controversy and got a lot of deserved blowback, but at least it was their idea, for better or worse.

SEBASTIAN: A lot has already been said that I can agree with. I share your fear, Razor, that there might turn out to be such a thing as too much Star Wars. I agree with you, Corey, that Disney will probably not want the level of graphic violence and sex that we have been seeing on Game of Thrones. And I agree with your points, Dan, why we should not be as quick to let Disney off the hook in terms of diversity. That said, I do not think it all that worthwhile to discuss this issue on the level of a single project.

I find myself in the unlikely role of the optimist, I guess. I have been criticizing Benioff and Weiss rather a lot recently, but I have few negative things to say about this. The worst thing I can say here is what Razor pointed out. Maybe we are edging closer to the threshold of having too much Star Wars. That’s not Benioff and Weiss’s fault though.

I even think it is a good thing that this is Disney and that this is Star Wars. While Benioff and Weiss have made their name with the less family-friendly show we all know and love (and sometimes love to hate), it has often been the explicit aspects of Game of Thrones that made us cringe. (Think of the “bad pussy” scene from the season 5 finale.) If Disney curbs some of those excesses, it could be a good thing. Besides, Star Wars is not A Song of Ice and Fire! My single biggest issue with Game of Thrones is that Benioff and Weiss have been overmatched by a highly complex narrative through which they have been forced to clear their own path. Star Wars might very well turn out to be the better match, and I am curious as to what this series of movies will turn out to be.

How do you guys feel about all this? Vote in the poll below!

How do you feel about Benioff and Weiss making Star Wars movies?