Star Wars: What Does the Game of Thrones Creators’ Exit Mean for Rian Johnson’s Trilogy?

The future of Star Wars is still unclear, once the Skywalker Saga comes to an end this year with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It’s been a strange turn of events, as not too long ago it seemed there was too many Star Wars projects on the horizon. However, the standalone spinoffs like Rogue One and Solo have been put on hold, and the planned Star Wars trilogy from Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff is now dead, as well. With the Weiss/Benioff trilogy gone, Star Wars fans are now wondering what’s going on with the other planned trilogy form The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.

Here’s what what we know at this point:

There’s been back-and-forth movement between rumors that Rian Johnson’s Star Wars project is happening, and/or that it’s dead, pretty much since 2019 began. Back in February an unreliable source reported that Johnson had walked away from Star Wars, only to have the director debunk those reports. Things sat quite for months, until a new rumor rose up in the summer, claiming that Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy was officially dead (again). That rumor wasn’t given much weight until this fall, when it seemed like Johnson himself was casting doubt on his future with Star Wars:

“Well we’ll see. I’m still talking to Lucasfilm, they’re figuring out what they’re doing and we’ll see what happens,” Johnson told BANG Showbiz. “But I’d be thrilled if it happens, and I’m working on my own stuff too.”

Naturally, that small sliver of uncertainty got the fan base rumbling, which eventually led to Johnson having to clear up his earlier statement:

“Did I say ‘if’? Oh god,” Johnson said [laughing]. “I have no update at all. But I’m still working with Lucasfilm on it, and they’re figuring out when they do what and everything.”

So, as it stands, it seems like Johnson is still in the mix over at Lucasfilm, though it seems unclear what the exact status of his trilogy is, or what plans the studio has concretely in place. Not so coincidentally, Disney and Lucasfilm set three new Star Wars movie release dates (pre-Christmas weekend in 2022, 2024 and 2026), just around the time rumors of Johnson’s trilogy being dead resurfaced. It was assumed that those dates were going to be for the Weiss/Benioff trilogy films, but now that possibility is gone.

Therefore, it not hard to assume that – unless Lucasfilm has a new project to announced – RianJohnson’s trilogy is still in the works, and will now be looking to fill those aforementioned dates. That’s totally unconfirmed, but with nothing else to go but the assumption that Disney/Lucasfilm will want something in place to announce after The Rise of Skywalker, there really are only two good guesses:

1. Rian Johnson’s Trilogy is on deck, and details will soon be locked down.
2. Marvel’s Kevin Feige is now making a Star Wars movie, and that could conceivably be what Lucasfilm goes with next, with the aim of making that 2022 date.

Which project would you like to see the studio pursue? Let us know in the comments!

The Mandalorian premieres on Disney+ on November 12th. Star Wars: The Riske of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th.