Anna Daniels
HBO has officially axed Confederate, the controversial alt-history slavery drama from Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. But the series, which was met with near-universal derision when it was announced three years ago, seemed like it was dead on arrival to begin with. No updates had been given since Benioff and Weiss quietly pulled back from the series amid the intense backlash following its announcement in 2017. But HBO president Casey Bloys can now officially confirm that Confederate is dead.
HBO president Casey Bloys has confirmed that Confederate is officially dead, according to TV Line.
The news comes as no surprise to those who were around when the series was first announced in 2017, prompting intense backlash against the prospect of Benioff and Weiss, two white men who have already come under fire for their portrayal of race in Game of Thrones, taking on a show about slavery in an alternate, post-Civil War world. The series, which takes place in an alternate timeline “where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution” was criticized for turning a pressing and still thorny topic into a concept for a fantasy show.
Since then, it seemed like the series was all but dead, with reports that Benioff and Weiss were “not actively” working on the series, and the news that Disney and Lucasfilm signed Benioff and Weiss to create a new Star Wars trilogy.
But following the polarizing ending for Game of Thrones last year, the dominoes began tumbling down for the duo, as they also parted ways with Star Wars to focus on their new deal with Netflix. The lucrative Netflix deal, under which Benioff and Weiss have already begun working on Lovecraft feature film, is also being cited as the reason that Confederate has been axed.
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