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hydroep wrote:4.4 on IMDB, guess that says it all...
ADONI wrote:I watched 1 hour and fall asleep. It did show the level of work was immense doh!
‘Game Of Thrones’ Showrunners David Benioff And D.B. Weiss Confirmed The Worst Suspicions Of The Fanbase
Dani Di Placido
Senior Contributor
After the disastrous final season of Game of Thrones, which left many fans furious at the flat conclusion to an epic story, writers/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have been extremely quiet, even going so far as to cancel their scheduled appearance at Comic Con.
At this point, every single scene, character arc (or lack thereof), and poorly-planned plot point has been thoroughly dissected and dismissed, by disappointed fans, critics, and YouTubers.
Blame fell squarely on the shoulders of Benioff and Weiss, with Game of Thrones fans recognizing that the sudden shift in quality was entirely due to decisions made in the writing room, and were generally mature enough not to blame the actors or crew members. (Benioff and Weiss are due to tackle Star Wars next, so we should wish them, and their future cast and crew, good luck).
But Benioff and Weiss emerged from their public hibernation to attend a panel at the Austin Film Festival, and finally answer some questions from fans. The two were brutally honest, essentially admitting that they were never fully qualified for the job from the beginning.
Benioff and Weiss still aren’t sure why George R.R. Martin entrusted them with his magnum opus, as the two didn’t have any comparable experience, or even an appreciation of the book’s themes.
It seems that the two men aimed for a moonshot, and somehow, hit their target, suddenly tasked with retelling an immensely complex story, without fully understanding it. In fact, Benioff once said: “Themes are for eighth-grade book reports,” which tells you all you need to know about his dedication to the art of storytelling.
If you’re wondering why a wildly successful writer is comfortable dismissing “themes” as childish and unnecessary, it should be noted that Benioff’s father is the former head of Goldman Sachs. Do we live in a meritocracy? Well, Bret Stephens still writes for the New York Times, so ...
The two went on to admit that they had absolutely no idea how to work with costume designers (kind of important for a fantasy series), and described their experience making Thrones as “an expensive film school.”
On some level, I almost admire their candor. They could have come up with excuses and defended their hideous creative choices, but they realized that there was nowhere left to hide. Fans were almost unanimously united in their disappointment, and little of the anger has evaporated in the months since.
Oddly enough, the show was at its peak during its early seasons, when Benioff and Weiss were still learning how to do their jobs. The two initially downplayed the fantasy elements of the books (a decision that helped ground the universe before dragons started flying through the sky), and wanted to expand the audience to non-fantasy fans. This worked in their favor at the beginning of the show, and helped expand it into a pop culture juggernaut, but meant that the intricacies of Martin’s lore were never explored.
The Faceless Men, the Lord of Light, the Night King; all magical elements of the story that were never resolved, despite clearly being vital to the story. Hence, “the Prince that was promised” never showed up, and Beric Dondarrion’s grand destiny was teased, but never delivered.
Benioff and Weiss were elevated to success by HBO’s polished infrastructure, the architecture of George R.R. Martin’s books, and the immense talent of every individual that surrounded them, particularly the actors.
They were exposed only when they ran out of material, and had to finish the story themselves. Amusingly, the two never went online to read criticisms of the show from fans, who clearly understood the books better than they did.
Well, Benioff searched online, once, but the results “upset him,” so he never did it again.
It seems that the Game of Thrones writer’s room was a “safe space,” shielded from criticism and outsider perspective. In a way, it’s a relief to finally understand why the show went in such a bizarre direction; there was no one there to tell Benioff and Weiss that their ideas were nonsensical.
Nobody was there to tell them to stop inserting random rape scenes for shock value, or that Euron Greyjoy was dreadful, or that the Great Houses of Westeros finally putting aside their differences and crowning a wheelchair-bound shaman as king was immensely, indescribably stupid.
Kevin Smith once said: "In Hollywood, you just kind of fail upwards," and I think that’s a pretty apt description of how Benioff and Weiss created their hit show.
But an even better analogy comes from Hunter S. Thompson, who famously responded to an impending deadline by ripping the tattered, intoxicated scribblings from his notebook and sending them to his editor, producing his famous article, "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved."
Thompson described his accidental success as “falling down an elevator shaft and landing in a pool full of mermaids.” Well, Benioff and Weiss have swum with the mermaids, and hopefully, they learned how to keep their heads above water, because there’s another elevator shaft down below, and at the bottom is a swamp full of ravenous, flesh-eating Star Wars fans.
Let’s hope they learned how to talk to costume designers, at least.
Update: According to Deadline, Benioff and Weiss have (wisely) walked away from Star Wars, citing time constraints, having signed a nine-figure deal with Netflix: “There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away.”
Another One Bites the Dust. HBO Scraps Game of Thrones Prequel Set During the Long Night
By Megan McCluskey
October 29, 2019
In the wake of the news that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are stepping away from the Star Wars trilogy they had planned to develop for LucasFilm, HBO has reportedly cancelled one of its highly-anticipated Game of Thrones prequels.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the network has scrapped Jane Goldman’s (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass) Game of Thrones successor show, a series that was set to take place thousands of years before the rise of Daenerys Targaryen and chronicle Westeros’ descent from the Age of Heroes into the Long Night.
Naomi Watts was slated to star in the prequel, which shot a full pilot episode directed by S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones) in Northern Ireland earlier this year. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin co-created the project with Goldman.
But don’t despair, Game of Thrones fans. HBO is still moving forward with its plans for a separate prequel series focusing on the Targaryen Civil War that took place around 300 years before the events of Thrones. Martin and Colony executive producer Ryan Condol are co-writing the pilot for this second project, which is based on Martin’s Fire and Blood book, a comprehensive history of how House Targaryen conquered Westeros with the aid of dragons.
The Force won’t be with them: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss exit Star Wars
The Game of Thrones showrunners cited time constraints from big Netflix deal.
Jennifer Ouellette - 10/29/2019, 5:40 PM
Former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will no longer be developing the next Star Wars film trilogy for LucasFilm, Deadline Hollywood reports. Instead, they'll be focusing on developing new films and series for Netflix, part of a lucrative nine-figure deal they signed in August with the streaming giant.
"We love Star Wars," Benioff and Weiss told Deadline Hollywood. "When George Lucas built it, he built us, too. Getting to talk about Star Wars with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything. There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away."
Benioff and Weiss signed onto Star Wars back in February 2018, before the much-maligned (by fans) final season of Game of Thrones aired on HBO earlier this year. They had been developing a series called Confederates for HBO, a fictionalized alternative history of the US where the South won the Civil War and slavery remained legal. The series was tabled, ostensibly due to scheduling conflicts rather than in response to an online outcry over the controversial premise. Then came the backlash against the GoT finale, even sparking an online petition with 1.75 million signatories calling for a remake. (As we noted in our review of the finale, that's not how any of this works.)
The duo has kept a fairly low public profile since then before igniting a fresh controversy with a panel appearance over the weekend at the Austin Film Festival. The men adopted a self-deprecating stance that didn't land well with the audience, joking about their lack of experience and marveling that George R.R. Martin entrusted his life's work into their hands as they pretty much learned the ropes on the job. So the news that Benioff and Weiss are no longer involved with Star Wars might be seen as good news by many.
It does kind of throw a fork in the works for Lucasfilm's long-range plans for the franchise. Currently, The Mandalorian debuts on the new Disney+ streaming service November 12, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—the final installment in the most recent trilogy that concludes the long-running "Skywalker saga"—hits theaters December 20. The Benioff and Weiss project was intended to launch the next stage of the Star Wars cinematic saga, slated for 2022.
Full plate
Fortunately, Lucasfilm still has plenty of other projects in the works, most notably a Star Wars spinoff series featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the iconic character. It was announced at Disney's annual D23 Expo in August, along with another Star Wars spinoff ("Untitled Spy Series") for Disney+ featuring Rogue One's Cassian (Diego Luna) and his best droid buddy, K2 (Alan Tudyk).
It sounds like Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy isn't closing the door entirely on having the duo in the Star Wars fold at some point in the future, however. "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers," she told Deadline Hollywood. "We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars."
hydroep wrote:Thank goodness for small mercies...The Force won’t be with them: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss exit Star Wars
The Game of Thrones showrunners cited time constraints from big Netflix deal.
Jennifer Ouellette - 10/29/2019, 5:40 PM
Former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will no longer be developing the next Star Wars film trilogy for LucasFilm, Deadline Hollywood reports. Instead, they'll be focusing on developing new films and series for Netflix, part of a lucrative nine-figure deal they signed in August with the streaming giant.
"We love Star Wars," Benioff and Weiss told Deadline Hollywood. "When George Lucas built it, he built us, too. Getting to talk about Star Wars with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything. There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away."
Benioff and Weiss signed onto Star Wars back in February 2018, before the much-maligned (by fans) final season of Game of Thrones aired on HBO earlier this year. They had been developing a series called Confederates for HBO, a fictionalized alternative history of the US where the South won the Civil War and slavery remained legal. The series was tabled, ostensibly due to scheduling conflicts rather than in response to an online outcry over the controversial premise. Then came the backlash against the GoT finale, even sparking an online petition with 1.75 million signatories calling for a remake. (As we noted in our review of the finale, that's not how any of this works.)
The duo has kept a fairly low public profile since then before igniting a fresh controversy with a panel appearance over the weekend at the Austin Film Festival. The men adopted a self-deprecating stance that didn't land well with the audience, joking about their lack of experience and marveling that George R.R. Martin entrusted his life's work into their hands as they pretty much learned the ropes on the job. So the news that Benioff and Weiss are no longer involved with Star Wars might be seen as good news by many.
It does kind of throw a fork in the works for Lucasfilm's long-range plans for the franchise. Currently, The Mandalorian debuts on the new Disney+ streaming service November 12, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—the final installment in the most recent trilogy that concludes the long-running "Skywalker saga"—hits theaters December 20. The Benioff and Weiss project was intended to launch the next stage of the Star Wars cinematic saga, slated for 2022.
Full plate
Fortunately, Lucasfilm still has plenty of other projects in the works, most notably a Star Wars spinoff series featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Ewan McGregor reprising his role as the iconic character. It was announced at Disney's annual D23 Expo in August, along with another Star Wars spinoff ("Untitled Spy Series") for Disney+ featuring Rogue One's Cassian (Diego Luna) and his best droid buddy, K2 (Alan Tudyk).
It sounds like Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy isn't closing the door entirely on having the duo in the Star Wars fold at some point in the future, however. "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers," she told Deadline Hollywood. "We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars."
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/10/the-force-wont-be-with-them-david-benioff-and-d-b-weiss-exit-star-wars/
sMASH wrote:they took two years to do s8, and still pump out that crap.
Mazda Girl wrote:sMASH wrote:they took two years to do s8, and still pump out that crap.
Question is whether the book will end the same way. if that is the case I'll refrain from buying it.
I don't need that kinda negativity in my life
16 cycles wrote:
Seems like GRRM was working on something....
16 cycles wrote:
Seems like GRRM was working on something....
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