Do New Star Wars Movies Mean HBO's 'Confederate' Is Cancelled?

After Disney's surprise announcement of future Star Wars films being handled by the team behind HBO's Game of Thrones, some fans wondered the status of their controversial series Confederate.

A new report from Deadline suggests that the show could be halted for the foreseeable future with D.B. Weiss and David Benioff set to work for Lucasfilm for an unspecified number of films, of which they will write and produce.

HBO announced Confederate last July and was promptly met with criticism due to the series' concept. It was set to take place in an alternate version of the United States after the Confederacy successfully seceded after the Civil War, with slavery remaining legal. The ensemble series would feature freedom fighters, escaped slaves, owners of conglomerates, and more.

Benioff and Weiss were set to serve as showrunners on the series, and writers Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman were also involved with the production.

TVLine reached out for a comment from HBO about the status of the show, but the network declined.

The statement that specifically raised inquiry over the status of Confederate comes at the end of Weiss and Benioff's statement in the announcement of a new Star Wars saga: "We are honored by the opportunity, a little terrified by the responsibility, and so excited to get started as soon as the final season of Game of Thrones is complete."

After HBO president Casey Bloys apologized for botching the announcement of Confederate through a poorly-worded press release, no new update on the series was provided until January. Then, Bloys told Deadline at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that there was no timetable on Confederate because he was waiting for Weiss and Benioff to finish Game of Thrones.

"Dave and David are in production on Game of Thrones, they are still talking (about Confederate) but it's going to be a year, year and a half before there is anything," Bloys said. "They have to finish GOT."

It's highly unlikely that the two would be able to split their time show running another HBO series and charting the direction for a new series of Star Wars movies.

Whether or not the series moves on with the Spellmans or if Weiss and Benioff remain involved in a different fashion remains to be seen, but it's unlikely that it will continue as HBO originally had planned.

Game of Thrones' eighth and final season will premiere sometime in 2019.