David Benioff and D.B. Weiss refuse to dwell on the negative comments about the ending of their show and insist they have never had any unpleasant encounter with fans.
- Jan 13, 2024
AceShowbiz - David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are unfazed by the criticism of the "Game of Thrones" ending. The writer-and-producers was hit with a backlash from disappointed fans of the HBO fantasy drama series when it came to an end after eight seasons in 2019, but they insisted there is no point getting "bogged down" in what people think.
"You always hope everyone's going to love anything you do and it would've been great if 100 percent of people loved it, but they didn't. You can get so bogged down in public opinion that you spend your whole life googling things and trying to find people who felt one way or the other way," Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter.
The pair admitted they took the decision several years ago not to seek out feedback. Weiss added, "Even super positive feedback makes you feel weird and teeth-grindy and on edge. There's a drug quality to the feedback, and as soon as we went cold turkey - the last time I googled myself was in 2013 - the ambient stress level in our lives dropped by about 50 percent overnight."
And despite the backlash online, the writers insisted they haven't had negative in-person encounters with fans since the show ended. Weiss said, "There's an underlying decency when people acknowledge you as a person and vice versa. There's something that happens in the transition from human interaction to online that pushes things in a specifically aggro direction."
As "Game of Thrones" creators, Benioff and Weiss were contractually guaranteed producer credits on any subsequent spin-off series - but turned the clause down as they didn't like the idea of being "completely detached and uninvolved."
Benioff said, "HBO was kind of confused. I remember their lawyer saying, 'But it's just money, we're just going to pay you.' " Weiss added, "I don't think there is such a thing as free money. For us, if our name is on it, especially that, while being completely detached and uninvolved, it felt like the strain that would come with that hands-off approach - with its success or failure or anything in between - was not worth it."
