It's fair to say the David Benioff and Dan Weiss have had a pretty tumultuous 2019.

The duo went from being responsible for the biggest show on TV with 'Game of Thrones', to essentially being publicly shamed for its ending.

Their fortunes were looking up, however, when it was confirmed that they were to write and produce the next 'Star Wars' film (which was due to be released in December 2022), as well as other titles in a new 'Star Wars' series.

However, a shock announcement was made last night when they released a statement blaming the 5-year Netflix deal that they signed back in August (worth a reported $250 million) as the reason.

"We love Star Wars. When George Lucas built it, he built us too," it read. "Getting to talk about Star Wars with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything. But there are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both Star Wars and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away."

Kathleen Kennedy of Lucasfilm said: "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars.”

Where this leaves the 'Star Wars' saga is not yet clear. With the final film of the 'Skywalker' trilogy, 'The Rise of Skywalker', set to hit cinemas in December, numerous small-screen projects based on the franchise are set to debut soon. This includes Jon Favreau's upcoming 'The Mandalorian' for Disney+.

The general consensus amongst fans seems to be one of  'What were they thinking?'...