Since its announcement three years ago, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ sci-fi drama Confederate was dogged by criticism and controversy. Now, HBO president, Casey Bloys officially confirms to TVLine that the project is coming to an end.
Confederate was planned as an hour-long show, set in an alternate timeline in which “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.”
Benioff and Weiss have been criticized in the past for their problematic race portrayal on Game of Thrones and the idea of them leading a show about slavery did not sit well with some of the critics. The duo tried to defend their subject matter choice and claimed that “It’s an ugly and painful history, but we all think this is a reason to talk about it, not a reason to run from it. And this (the show) feels like a potentially valuable way to talk about it.”
The project was already on hiatus since 2018 when Benioff and Weiss were signed by Disney and Lucasfilm to create the new Star Wars trilogy. This project was also dropped since then but Benioff and Weiss will still be busy with their huge deal with Netflix.
