Rumor: 'Star Wars' Movies From 'Game Of Thrones' Creators May Head To The Old Republic
After Star Wars Episode 9 hits theaters this winter, we don't know what's coming next on the big screen from the galaxy far, far away. Director Rian Johnson has a new Star Wars trilogy he's working on, and Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have another (supposed) trilogy that will be completely separate from the primary saga and the aforementioned developing trilogy. But now we might have an idea of what Benioff and Weiss will give us, and if this rumor is true, it's right up their alley.
Star Wars News Net has heard that the Star Wars trilogy from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will take place during the time of the Old Republic. They have a single source who provided proof that they've worked on every Star Wars film since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, and this source specifically said that they are "95% confident this is accurate." Having said that, make sure we take this idea of a Star Wars Old Republic movie series with a grain of salt.
The source said they were "approached about working on the next movie this Autumn. It is not the Rian Johnson trilogy, it is the Game of Thrones guys' first movie, and it is set during the Old Republic, as Disney wants to open up the Star Wars timeline and appeal to a more 'Game of Thrones' style audience." And if you know anything about the stories Star Wars fans have consumed that take place during this time period, you know that Benioff and Weiss are the perfect people to bring that timeline to life.
The new Star Wars trilogy would be set hundreds of years prior to the Skywalker saga. That's not quite as far back as the popular video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the most successful video games to come from the Star Wars franchise, but it allows a lot of distance between the new Star Wars canon and what will be a new trilogy of stories. Plus, we know Rian Johnson isn't doing a trilogy that takes place in the Old Republic, so that time period is wide open.
Knights of the Old Republic took place four thousand years before the foundation of the Galactic Empire, following a player as the last hope for the Jedi after a crushing defeat at the hands of the Sith that killed hundreds of Jedi Knights. There's also the MMORPG game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which takes place 300 years after Knights of the Old Republic and dives deep into the mythology of Star Wars in the past. But the drastic difference between hundreds of years and thousands of years doesn't mean this new trilogy couldn't tell a story similar to those in these video games. With the new canon, there's a lot more room to change up the timeline of events in the Star Wars galaxy.
Even though this is a rumor for now, it sounds like we might hear something about this project sooner than later. The report's source also said, "Filming starts in the fall, and art departments are in design phases now as the script is being finalized." That might mean an announcement could be right around the corner, perhaps at Star Wars Celebration. At the very least, it seems like this film series will get off the ground before Rian Johnson really digs into whatever he has up his sleeve.
All of this sounds pretty credible, even without a second source, and Star Wars News Net isn't one to report total nonsense. Obviously we'll have to wait for more official word to feel certain about this news, but at the very least, the prospect sounds rather enticing.