While fans are extremely eager to finally seeEwan McGregorreprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in theupcoming Disney+ series, the actor’sStar Warsreturn wasn’t always planned for the small screen. Back in 2017, fresh off the successful launch ofStar Wars: The Force Awakensand the first-everStar WarsspinoffRogue One(which grossed over $1 billion), word broke that Lucasfilmwas developing an Obi-Wan moviestarring McGregor, withBilly ElliotandThe HoursdirectorStephen Daldryin negotiations to take the helm.
Subsequently, word was quiet on that film front as Lucasfilm kept its future plans pretty secret, but we now know they were bullish onStar Warsas a whole, aiming to release one new movie a year. ThenSolo: A Star Wars Storyhappened. Releasing just five months afterThe Last Jedi, the prequelSolonot only suffered very public behind-the-scenes turmoil but pretty much crashed and burned at the box office. At $392.9 million worldwide, it’s the lowest grossingStar Warsmovie yet, by a lot.
In June 2018, a month afterSolo’s release,we exclusively reportedthat Lucasfilm was putting all of its spinoffs on hold—includingObi-Wan—to reassess their plans going forward. Then this past August, Lucasfilm announced plans fora six-episodeObi-WanDisney+ series, with Daldry no longer at the helm but with McGregor confirmed to return. Curious…
Speaking withComingSoon, McGregor confirmed thatObi-Wandid indeed begin its life as a planned movie, but feels everything worked out for the best in the end:
“It wasn’t always going to be a series, not initially. When we first started talking about [it] that wasn’t really in the cards, but everything’s changed so much, so quickly. It’s really exciting that it is now. I’m really into the idea to be able to tell the story over several hours instead of just one hit. I think it’s going to be quite cool."
It’s unclear if theObi-Wanseries will be the same storyline that was planned for the movie, but I would certainly be interested to hear how this thing morphed and evolved behind the scenes. Daldry is no longer at the helm, asDeborah Chow(The Mandalorian) was recently revealed to be directing the TV series.
Production onObi-Wandoesn’t begin until Summer 2020, but we recently learned that the showwill take place eight years afterthe events ofRevenge of the Sith, bridging the gap between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.
