'Game of Thrones' showrunners Benioff and Weiss exit new 'Star Wars' trilogy

The planned trilogy of Star Wars movies by Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff is no more.

The pair have walked from their deal with Lucasfilm and Disney, according to Deadline.

“We love Star Wars,” the pair said in a statement. “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.

Read more: Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy could be on after all

“So we are regretfully stepping away.”

In a separate statement, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy appeared open to working with the writers in the future.

“David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. 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,” she said.

Disney boss Bob Iger announced the GoT pair's plans for the Star Wars universe in May this year, with a target of 2022 for the beginning of a plotted new trilogy of movies.

But it also came after Rian Johnson was also confirmed to be working on his own trilogy, leaving fans wondering what would come first, particularly given Iger's promise of a 'hiatus' in the Star Wars movies of three years.

Then in August, Benioff and Weiss signed a huge five-year deal with Netflix in August, thought to be worth in the region of $300 million, which further confused fans as to how they'd also be working on three new Star Wars movies.

Read more: Bob Iger regrets releasing so many Star Wars movies

It then emerged last month that Kevin Feige, custodian of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, would also be working on a Star Wars movie project.

Last week, Rian Johnson seemed to hint that his own trilogy of movies was hopefully still in the offing, while a wave of new Star Wars material is on the way from Disney's new streaming service Disney+.

The star-studded The Mandalorian will arrive next month, creating a new, gritty Star Wars world populated by ruthless bounty hunters, while Ewan McGregor is also poised to don the cloak to play Obi-Wan Kenobi in a new series.

Then there's the small matter of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, due to his the UK on December 19.