Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss sign overall deal with Netflix

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With Game of Thrones now behind them, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had been searching for a new home, and according to Deadline, it was Netflix who came through with the big bucks to sign the pair for an overall global deal to write, produce, and direct new series and films.

There were six different studios courting D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, including HBO/WarnerMedia, Disney, Comcast, Amazon, and Apple, but Netflix approached the pair with a deal said to be the the range of 9-figures. In a statement, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said, "We are thrilled to welcome master storytellers David Benioff and Dan Weiss to Netflix. They are a creative force and have delighted audiences worldwide with their epic storytelling. We can’t wait to see what their imaginations will bring to our members." Thanks to Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss became television superstars, but based on the fan reaction to the final season of the HBO series, this news probably isn't as exciting to fans as it once would have been. In a further statement, Benioff and Weiss said:

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.

Despite the negative reception which the final season of Game of Thrones received, it went on to garner 32 Emmy nominations, which set a new record for the most nominations received in the same year by any show. The nominations includes nods for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, three nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, as well as ten acting nominations for Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Alfie Allen, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and Carice van Houten. Before David Benioff and D.B. Weiss make the move to Netflix, they still have a number of other projects which they intend to fulfill, including a new STAR WARS trilogy, a Kurt Cobain project for Universal, and the prison break drama DIRTY WHITE BOYS for Fox/Disney (but with Disney scrapping many Fox projects, this one may no longer be a active.)