Let’s take a quick trip back to the summer of 2017. Everything was pretty great in the lives of “Game of Thrones” creators DB Weiss and David Benioff. Their HBO series was more popular than ever. There was constant chatter about what the duo might work on next, with HBO ready to put down a lot of money to make that happen. But then they announced “Confederate.” Almost instantly, folks recoiled. And then they rebelled.
The backlash was quick and painful, with HBO quickly backtracking and trying to save face by saying the series, which focused on a world where the Confederate states successfully seceded and created their own nation that still featured slavery. Then it appeared that HBO was slowing down development on the series. Finally, with Benioff and Weiss flubbing the ending of ‘Thrones,’ before moving to greener pastures at Netflix, it appeared that “Confederate” was just a pipe dream.
Well, according to a new report from TV Line, we can officially call “Confederate” dead. The report claims that HBO boss Casey Bloys has confirmed that “Confederate” is no longer in development, meaning that the last remnants of the Benioff and Weiss relationship with HBO is no more.
While the idea of two white guys telling the story of modern-day slavery being legal in the Confederate states should have instantly raised red flags at HBO, you can kinda see where the network might agree to this. At the time, Benioff and Weiss were living large and a hot commodity, meaning HBO needed to keep them happy. Also, with series like “The Man in High Castle” being a hit for Amazon, showing a world where Nazis won WWII, the idea of “Confederate” could have been viewed as something similar. However, thankfully, we were spared.