As we have known for a while now the creators of GAME OF THRONES, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, have left the building. They made a big deal with Disney to spearhead a forthcoming Lucasfilm Star Wars project. They learned of the deal before GoT’s concluding season was completed, but the team seemed eager to move on to that epic story and seemed to forget the epic story they were telling. Many have grumbled that the production value of the last season was sloppy and the production rushed. B&W seemed done before they were done.
During all that, CONFEDERATE, the series that was marked as B&W’s next for HBO was sitting on the table. The series was to be an alternate timeline story similar to Amazon’s The Man In The High Castle, but instead of being about the Axis Powers winning their war it would be about the U. S. Confederate states winning theirs. A wave of controversy swirled about it as soon as the concept was mentioned. But it still sat waiting. HBO never officially killed the deal.
Next thing we knew in the process, just when the final episodes of GAME OF THRONES were airing, Benioff & Weiss were shopping around for a new network to set up shop. They’ve met with Apple Amazon, Comcast, Disney and Netflix. But wait a minute, what about HBO and CONFEDERATE? It wasn’t until just recently that we learned that Netflix will be the home of the creative team and that the Star Wars deal might utilize them a bit less to rush that deal along. They might just write & produce but not direct, according to THR. Watch out Disney, when B&W rush through something to get to the next big thing they get sloppy!
Netflix took the team for a reported $250 million. Said David Benioff & Dan Weiss: “We’ve 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. Over the past few months, we’ve spent many hours talking to Cindy Holland and Peter Friedlander, as well as Ted Sarandos and Scott Stuber. We remember the same shots from the same ‘80s movies; we love the same books; we’re excited about the same storytelling possibilities. Netflix has built something astounding and unprecedented, and we’re honored they invited us to join them.” And since that declaration, 
we learned that HBO just wouldn’t pay the price and couldn’t sit around to wait for the Disney deal to conclude for CONFEDERATE to happen. The new HBO had fresh money to spend under WarnerMedia but they could not or would not spend it all on one production team when there were others still inhouse that needed the cash including Joss Whedon and J. J. Abrams.
So, CONFEDERATE and Benioff & Weiss are out of the picture though I guess, they will still hold producer credit for any GAME OF THRONES prequel or sequel that goes forward at HBO. It is what it is and we move forward. Good Luck to all parties.
2 comments
Benioff and Weiss seem more interested in courting controversy than anything else. I can’t say I’ll mourn CONFEDERATE.
We have not heard a word from GOT’s show-runners since the season finale. They bowed out of Comic Con at the last moment and have not spoken to the press about the show since it ended. Moreover, they removed their nominated script from the Emmy website after it received backlash.
I would be more interested in Benioff and Weiss’ future projects if they were more open about discussing GOT.
Whether it is true or not, the perception that has come from all this is that they are controlled by ego and greed. The success over the years of this acclaimed series didn’t really do them any good but make them wealthy. It will be interesting to see what they do at Netflix.