GAME OF THRONES showrunners to write and direct next STAR WARS movie

Disney have confirmed that the next Star Wars movie after J.J. Abrams' Rise of Skywalker will be written, directed and produced by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

It was previously known that Benioff and Weiss had been contracted by Lucasfilm to produce a new Star Wars film "series," along with The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson who had his own full trilogy to make (although Johnson is only contracted to write and produce, and may direct one of the films). The news today from Disney and Lucasfilm confirms that Benioff and Weiss's first movie is up first, due for release in 2022.

The subject matter of the new films is unclear, although head of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that both new film series will be unrelated to the Skywalker Saga (as the numbered episode films are now being called) and will be set in different parts of the Star Wars universe, in time, space or both. Some Star Wars fans have speculated that some or all of the new films will be set in the popular Knights of the Old Republic era, the setting for multiple video games and comics, but this remains speculation at the moment.

Disney confirm STAR WARS movies will resume in 2022, alongside AVATAR movies and INDIANA JONES 5

It turns out that the "long hiatus" for Star Wars that Disney has been planning won't be that long after all: the next Star Wars movie after The Rise of Skywalker will arrive in December 2022, a relatively modest three years later.

Rumours persist that one or both of the new Star Wars trilogies will be set in the time period explored by video games such as Knights of the Old Republic.

That's still a retreat from Disney and Lucasfilm's previous stance, which seemed to be heading towards getting two or more Star Wars movies into the cinema every year, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's approach. However, the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story appears to have spooked Disney and they have now backed off from "over-exploiting" the franchise.

That doesn't mean that the future is Star Wars-free however. There will be a Star Wars movie released every other year from 2022 for at least three movies, and they will be interspersed with four more movies in James Cameron's Avatar series. There are also multiple animated and live-action Star Wars TV series in development for the Disney+ streaming service, with the first live-action show, The Mandalorian, due for release late this year or early next.

Lucasfilm are also now actively working on a fifth Indiana Jones film, which is expected to be Harrison Ford's swansong in the role.

The current release schedule is as follows:

• December 2019: Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker
• December 2021: Avatar 2
• December 2022: Untitled Star Wars Film 1
• December 2023: Avatar 3
• December 2024: Untitled Star Wars Film 2
• December 2025: Avatar 4
• December 2026: Untitled Star Wars Film 3
• December 2027: Avatar 5

There is no indication what the new Star Wars movies will actually be about, however. Game of Thrones producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have been developing a new series of films, as has The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. However, both series are apparently on the backburner until Weiss and Benioff complete all Game of Thrones-related responsibilities later this year, and until Johnson's next movie is released, also later this year. It is possible that the two trilogies could be released on a rotating basis (meaning there's potentially three more Star Wars movies to follow these ones, taking us up to 2032!).

Various other proposed stand-alone Star Wars movies, such as a Boba Fett film, appear to have been killed. Others, such as the proposed Obi-Wan movie, have been re-purposed as TV proposals instead.

RIP Peter Mayhew

News has sadly broken that Star Wars actor Peter Mayhew has passed away at the age of 74.

Mayhew was born in 1944 in London and was noted for his exceptional height, peaking at 7 foot, 3 inches. His exceptional height attracted the attention of casting agents, who cast him in the role of the minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger in 1976. He was put forward for a role in George Lucas's Star Wars; originally Lucas had cast David Prowse as Chewbacca but had second thoughts and decided that Prowse would make a better Darth Vader. Mayhew noted that he was cast based almost entirely on his height.

Mayhew played Chewbacca solo in four Star Wars movies: Star Wars (1977, later retitled A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). He also reprised the role for several TV guest appearances and public appearances. In 2015 he returned to the role for The Force Awakens, but ill health prevented him from playing Chewbacca full-time. Instead, Mayhew played the role in scenes with Chewbacca sitting down or standing still, whilst Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo played the role in action sequences.

After the release of The Force Awakens, Mayhew announced his retirement from the role and gave his blessing for Suotamo to take over the role full-time. Suotamo has since reprised the role in The Last Jedi (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Suotamo sought Mayhew's advice when taking over the role full-time in The Last Jedi, leading to Mayhew being credited as "Chewbacca Consultant" on the film.

Despite having no audible dialogue in the films, Chewbacca became a firm fan-favourite for his personality and discernible sense of humour. Chewbacca's inability to talk normally proved challenging for the writers of the Star Wars novels, ultimately leading to the (wildly unpopular) decision to kill off the character (albeit heroically) in the novel Vector Prime. The decision was so unpopular that the author, R.A. Salvatore, received death threats. When Disney took over the Star Wars franchise in 2012, Chewbacca's death was given as the primary reason why the novels would be ignored and the canon rebooted.

Mayhew appeared in several non-Star Wars-related movies over the years and also used his celebrity to promote charitable causes.

Mayhew is sadly the third actor from the core Star Wars cast to pass away, following Kenny Baker (R2-D2) in 2016 and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) in 2016.