Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss sign $200 million deal with Netflix

[midian182]

What just happened? Barring that divisive final season, Game of Thrones was one of the most loved TV shows of the 21st century, if not all time. The showrunners of the smash series—David Benioff and Dan Weiss—are now moving away from HBO and have landed a multiyear film and TV deal with Netflix.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that the pair have signed a contract worth $200 million to create new projects for the streaming service. Other than the 2022 Star Wars movie, the duo will be producing content exclusively for Netflix.

Benioff and Weiss were said to have been in talks with Disney and Amazon, who were also looking to procure their services, but it seems Netflix offered them the most compelling (as in, the most money) deal. Amazon was said to be the favorites to capture the pair—it already signed a $150 million contract with Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan in April—but its rival ultimately sealed the deal.

"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,” the duo said, in a statement.

While the first seven seasons of Game of Thrones varied between 91 percent and 97 percent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, the eighth season managed just 58 percent. Viewers complained that episodes from the final season destroyed years of character development, contained rushed plots, and featured some poor writing. It even led to a petition that was signed by over 1.1 million people demanding season eight be remade. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t.

Perhaps as a result of the backlash, Benioff and Weiss canceled their Comic-Con appearance last month and have avoided interviews. Netflix will no doubt hope they can repeat some of the show’s earlier magic in their new projects.

Image credit: lev radin via Shutterstock

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https://www.techspot.com/news/81354-game-thrones-showrunners-david-benioff-dan-weiss-sign.html

 

[VitalyT]

So, it pays to be a hack.

 

[wiyosaya]

So, it pays to be a hack.

I was thinking pretty much the same. We now have new doGs of holywood in these guys, but just because they made something popular does not mean their success will continue. IMO, there is not a whole lot of content out there that has the kind of depth I appreciate. I, for one, have not seen GoT and I am not sure I want to because of the fact that it is so popular.

One other figure in holywood who became popular because of a popular series was JJ Abrams. My wife and I quit watching Lost - though I am tempted to watch it on Netflix. Abrams then attained doG status in holywood and was hired for such projects as ST: Into Darkness. ST: Into Darkness was an extreme crap remake of Khan in ST: TOS and movies that, as I see it, totally brought the movie side of the franchise to its knees - Not to mention Star Wars: Episode VII which, IMO, was a poorly done rehash of IV.

I really wish executives like this would stop trying to play that "They did something great, so everything they do from now on will absolutely also be great, too" card in an effort to get who's hot and snag those addicted to who's hot. Every director/writer/producer has up times and down times, but $200M for these just because of GoT? IMO, not a wise move.

 

[Misagt]

I have no plans on watching what they put out next. I think a broken watch is right more then these guys will be.

 

[Capaill]

They will only be good if someone else gives them good solid material. When they ran out of that in GoT (ie. the last 2 seasons) the show fell apart.

 

[Evernessince]

What a colossal waste of money. I just hope for Netflix's sake, they aren't being used as writers.

 

[Benny26]

"Netflix will no doubt hope they can repeat some of the show’s earlier magic in their new projects."

They had well written books with great plot lines as reference in the early seasons and you can quite clearly see the decline when they ran out of material to work with, so no, I wouldn't expect any "magic" at all to be honest.

Someone at Netflix must have had too much milk of the poppy when they offered them that.

 

[Nobina]

Didn't GoT went to **** after they got in charge?

 

[Kashim]

I, for one, have not seen GoT and I am not sure I want to because of the fact that it is so popular.

<<--- BARF!! This right here is what's wrong with the internet.

 

[Markoni35]

The less talent one has, the higher the salary.

 

[Markoni35]

Didn't GoT went to **** after they got in charge?

Exactly so. Normally they should get fired for that. But instead they got lots of money. Meaning... they ruined the show in exactly the way someone wanted. What? Who mentioned the word "propaganda"? Not me.

 

[Jtd49]

I'm bummed. I was so wanting the GoT prequel.