Creators of Game of Thrones David Benioff and D.B. Weiss signed a deal to write, produce and direct new series and films with Netflix after being courted by six studios for a deal.
What We Know:
- Benioff and Weiss were juggling offers from HBO/WarnerMedia, Disney, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon and Apple to work on exclusive new content following the close of Game of Thrones. The deal is rumored to be around a $200 million deal comparable to Netflix deals signed by other TV giants like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy and is for five years. “They are a creative force and have delighted audiences worldwide with their epic storytelling. We can’t wait to see what their imaginations will bring to our members,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said.
- The two are already set to create, write and produce one of the next “Star Wars” trilogies with Disney, expected to premiere in 2022. Deadline reported that the duo will still work on this Star Wars trilogy, as well as previously announced projects with Universal and Fox. For Universal, the two are working on a Kurt Cobain project, and are set to adapt Dirty White Boys for Disney.
- The two were working on an HBO series “Confederate,” but the project is likely to be dropped now that the duo has left the network. “Confederate” received the green light from HBO in 2017 but has experienced continued delays in production, particularly because of the creators’ many working projects and public pushback to the series. Their work on Star Wars always took precedence over the HBO show, and their list of projects only continues to expand.
- “We had a beautiful run with HBO for more than a decade and we’re grateful to everyone there for always making us feel at home…Netflix has built something astounding and unprecedented, and we’re honored they invited us to join them,” Benioff and Weiss said in a joint statement about the move.
- Game of Thrones broke records being nominated 628 times for a variety of awards, winning 308 awards for those nominations. The show unfortunately met some bad press with its last season seemingly disappointing to most of its loyal fans.
Critics and viewers alike are excited to see what’s next for the minds who created what is considered one of the greatest television series in history.
