Game of Thrones creators’ Star Wars trilogy will follow Rise of Skywalker

The creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones will be heading to a galaxy far, far away in the very near, near future.

Disney has confirmed that the previously announced trilogy of Star Wars films from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will indeed be the next big-screen installments of the sci-fi saga to hit theaters following Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which comes out December 20. The first of those films is currently scheduled to premiere in 2022.

The plan was announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications conference.

It was previously announced that both the Game of Thrones creators and Episode VIII – The Last Jedi writer and director Rian Johnson were both working on separate trilogies set in the Star Wars universe. Details remain scarce regarding both trilogies, although rumors suggest that Benioff and Weiss’ films might be set early in the franchise’s timeline, well before George Lucas’ episodic prequel trilogy.

Earlier in May, Disney announced the release dates for all three films in the next Star Wars trilogy without confirming whether it was Johnson’s project or the Game of Thrones duo’s project. The films have been given release dates of December 16, 2022; December 20, 2024; and December 18, 2026.

After releasing two episodic films and two stand-alone “anthology” movies in four years, Disney announced it would ease back on the release schedule for Star Wars movies following The Rise of Skywalker. The studio instead has diverted its attention to its upcoming Disney Plus streaming-video service, which will launch in November and feature multiple original Star Wars series, both live-action and animated. Among those series is The Mandalorian, a live-action series developed by Jon Favreau (The Jungle Book), as well as an untitled series set before the events of 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story featuring Diego Luna’s character from the film.

The final season of Game of Thrones has been one of the most polarizing so far for fans, which has led to an anxious reception to the Star Wars news. After the HBO series officially outpaced the novels it was adapted from — George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series — fans have taken issue more increasingly with some popular characters’ story arcs and the path of the series’ story as a whole. The penultimate episode of the series, titled “The Bells,” aired May 12 and sparked no small amount of controversy regarding where it took certain characters and how it framed some of their final moments.

The final episode of Game of Thrones airs on HBO this Sunday, May 18.