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OBI-WAN KENOBI (Disney+ series)


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The series is set to take place eight years after the event of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

 

That sets it around more or less the same time as SOLO. Interesting. A shame Dave Filoni is not involved, though.

 

I'm currently going through all the STAR WARS films and TV shows in story-chronological order, and one thing occured to me -- Bail Organa certainly keeps up appearances better than Obi-Wan. He looks more or less the same in the prequels as he does in ROGUE ONE, whereas Obi-Wan looks like Ewan McGregor in the prequels and Alec Guiness around the time of ROGUE ONE. It's apparently tough living on Tatooine. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

:(

 

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Series on Hold as Calls Go Out for New Scripts

 

Ewan McGregor and director Deborah Chow remain attached to the Disney+ project.

 

Disney+ and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series centered on Obi-Wan Kenobi has been put on hold as the companies attempt a retooling, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

 

The effort, in which Ewan McGregor is set to reprise his role of the famed Jedi Knight, was in the throes of preproduction.

 

The project had Hossein Amini writing and a director in Deborah Chow, who became the first-ever female Star Wars director thanks to her work on Disney+’s buzzy series The Mandalorian. Sources say that the show was even screen-testing actors opposite McGregor.

 

Sources tell THR that the scripts — only two were written — and story became an issue and that the entire package has been jettisoned. Lucasfilm is now on the hunt for a new writer to pen the series. At the same time, sources say the project is being reconfigured from six episodes to four.

 

It is unclear when the show will ramp up again, although insiders stress that McGregor remains attached to star and Chow remains on as director. Disney had no comment.

 

The development follows social media rumors a week ago that the series was cancelled. Those posts proved premature, but did expose the project was facing problems.

 

It is unclear why scripts became an issue so late in the process. One source said the Kenobi story trod similar ground as The Mandalorian, seeing the Jedi master lending a protective hand to a young Luke and possible even a young Leia, perhaps mirroring how the Mandalorian took Baby Yoda under his protective custody. 

 

Last August, McGregor surprised Star Wars fans by walking out onstage at D23 to confirm that he would be playing Kenobi once more. The actor had flirted for years with a return to the character after last playing the role in 2005's Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

 

In 2017, THR broke the news that Disney and Lucasfilm was developing a spinoff film to be directed by Oscar winner Stephen Daldry, but those plans were scrapped after the poor performance of another stand-alone, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), which grossed $392 million worldwide. 

 

The Obi-Wan news comes as Disney and Lucasfilm are at a crossroads with Star Wars. The franchise has been put on pause, at least in terms of the big screen, following December's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which concluded the nine-film saga that began in 1977 and was greeted with mixed reaction. Though the pic has earned $1.03 billion globally to date, it is on track to be the lowest-grossing of the sequel trilogy.

 

Star Wars has found acclaim with its first Disney+ series,The Mandalorian, which introduced a breakout character in Baby Yoda.

 

Collider first reported the news of the Obi-Wan series being on hold.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/obi-wan-kenobi-series-hold-as-calls-goes-new-scripts-1272499

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Is there are a SW project by Disney that hasn't had production woes? I don't recall any drama from The Mandalorian, but I'm not sure. It just seems like everything I hear about Disney Star Wars involves rewrites, reshoots, people being fired etc.

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Ewan got pissed off with the reports.

 

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‘Obi-Wan’ Star Ewan McGregor Downplays ‘All This Bulls—‘ About Disney+ Series Delay
“We just pushed the shoot to the beginning of next year,” actor says

 

At a press event Thursday night, Ewan Mcgregor addressed the drama surrounding the upcoming Disney+ “Star Wars” series “Obi-Wan,” telling reporters that despite news the production has been delayed, the show is happening as scheduled and most of what has been reported is “bulls—.”

 

“We just pushed the shoot to the beginning of next year. The scripts are really good. I saw 90% of the writing and I really liked it,” Mcgregor said during a press scrum at an event promoting Warner Bros.’ upcoming film “Birds of Prey.”

 

“All this bulls— about creative differences and all that stuff is, none of it true,” he continued, suggesting that the delay is somewhat related to “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

 

“We just pushed the dates, they want — last episode, episode 9 came out, everyone had more time to read the stuff that had been written, and they felt that they wanted to do more work on it. So they slid the shoot. It’s not nearly as dramatic as it sounds online.”

 

McGregor added that the series will “start shooting in January. I think they want to keep the same release date so it’s not really gonna affect the viewer in any way. It just simply gives them more time to write, make the scripts even better.”

 

The actor’s comments come hours after widespread reports that production on “Obi-Wan” has been put on an indefinite hold and the London-based crew sent home while Disney and Lucasfilm retool the show and hire a new writer.  Disney and Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.

 

Announced last summer during D23 2019, the Obi-Wan series will take place at some point during the 19-year gap between the end of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” and “Star Wars: A New Hope.” McGregor will once again play the Jedi Master originally portrayed by Alec Guinness and executive produce, alongside series director Deborah Chow and writer Hossein Amini. Jason McGatlin, Lucasfilm’s executive vice president of production, will serve as co-producer.

 

The project will be the third live-action “Star Wars” series for Disney+, following “The Mandalorian” and the “Rogue One” prequel series centered on Diego Luna’s character, Cassian Andor.

 

https://www.thewrap.com/obi-wan-star-ewan-mcgregor-downplays-all-this-bulls-about-disney-series-delay/

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17 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I'd still wait until there's more solid evidence that this is real. Collider has been wrong many times in the past.

@Edmilson's followup post confirms at least one part is true.

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Sure - and the production schedule change was widely reported last week.  It's not new news - it's the same thing that threw all the dinguses into a panic that Obi-Wan was canceled last week (which was also reported by the trades before they did actual research into the issue).

 

Honestly while a lot of actors just deliver the company line, I've seen enough off the cuff stuff from Ewan McGregor to the press to know that he's probably being frank here.

 

That said, it never hurts to have things fully developed before announcing them, LFL...

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Tbh, I'm not that interested on an Obi-Wan movie or show set on Tatooine, with him living like a hermit while Luke grows up doing farm stuff. I would've been more interested on something showing him either as a young padawan, on a Jedi mission with Qui-Gonn, or as a newly appointed Jedi master, teaching Anakin and going with him on his first missions, a few years before AOTC. 

 

Of course, Ewan wouldn't be able to portray the character, but anyway.

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Sorry to hear it's been put on hold. Crossing fingers that it will get back up. Was really looking forward to this.

 

3 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Tbh, I'm not that interested on an Obi-Wan movie or show set on Tatooine, with him living like a hermit while Luke grows up doing farm stuff. I would've been more interested on something showing him either as a young padawan, on a Jedi mission with Qui-Gonn, or as a newly appointed Jedi master, teaching Anakin and going with him on his first missions, a few years before AOTC. 

 

Of course, Ewan wouldn't be able to portray the character, but anyway.

 

If it's Obi-Wan "action across galaxies" you're looking for, you get plenty of that in the CLONE WARS series.

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I know, but I still think a prequel starring him and Qui Gonn could be interesting. We could know more about Qui Gonn, his obsessions with ancient Jedi prophecies, how he learned about the Chosen One prophecy, maybe showing the two of them traveling to unknown, mysterious Jedi locations and ancient temples across the galaxy... Like a space version of Temple of Doom.

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Yeah, one of my gripes with any Obi-Wan spinoff is just how exactly do you do something with a character who's meant to be keeping his head down and embracing the hermit life in order to protect Luke.

 

Then...

 

 

Introducing Kid LukeTM everybody!

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A communique from Bail Organa about a direct threat to Princess Leia (during a time when kid Luke is just peacefully kicking sand and smooshing frogs on Tatooine) would be a reasonable prompt to draw him off-planet.  Whatever happens next could be a fun adventure!

 

Maybe whatever trouble he gets into could follow him back to Tatooine in some way that impacts the Lars/Luke homestead, therefore leading to the strained relationship in Star Wars.

 

You got Jimbly Smipts, you got Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse, just do it Disney.  Just do it.

 

Here I am, Disney, give me some monnnneeeeeey pleeeeeease.

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They can make it Maul/Mandalore-based to some extent if they want to - people love seeing things they are familiar with!  They already seeded Maul with Solo.   Its era is ripe! You got yer Darth Maul, you got yer Bo Katan.  Baby, it's a party. 

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On Solo, they showed Maul had this huge criminal empire. But on his first appearance on Rebels, set 7 years later than this, he was already a sick hermit. Maybe they can show it was Kenobi who left Tatooine temporarily to deal with Maul and end his criminal empire?

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26 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

On Solo, they showed Maul had this huge criminal empire. But on his first appearance on Rebels, set 7 years later than this, he was already a sick hermit. Maybe they can show it was Kenobi who left Tatooine temporarily to deal with Maul and end his criminal empire?

 

Yes, that's an interesting transition. I would love to see what happened to Crimson Dawn (or whatever his crime gang was called) and Maul between SOLO and his final hours in REBELS.

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That’s what I was thinking, give us a chance to see Alderaan and his relationship with it. They obviously have to follow up on the Maul reveal from Solo (and bring back Emilia Clarke!). I think they would have no qualms revisiting/remaking whatever was done in the cartoons. They could feature Vader in some capacity, maybe he’s hunting down some other leftover Jedi. Maybe Natalie Portman faked her death at the end of RotS (remember in RotJ Leia states she remembers her—OMG what a huge plot hole let’s use it). It would be cool to spend some time on Calamari, see how the Mon Calamari got involved in the Rebellion (I love Mon Calamari, always wanted to see them in a less throwaway capacity). Or bring back the Neimoidians (love them, too!).

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Hopefully they let the guy who wrote both Batman v Superman and The Rise of Skywalker write this show. I want quality, baby. 
 

Will they show Maul on this new show? His story already played out on Rebels (his only interaction with Obi-Wan post Phantom Menace). 
 

That question reminds me that they’re probably bringing back Fett for Mando season 2. When will Star Wars just die?

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I can't recall Maul and Obi-Wan's last interaction in The Clone Wars (we may have yet to see it!), but in Rebels Maul wasn't aware that Obi-Wan had survived until he opened up the holocron with Ezra, during which he receives a vision of twin suns. I think his last line in that episode was, "So he lives!", or something like that. I imagine Maul presumed Kenobi died during Order 66, and him having an insane vendetta for Kenobi for debilitating him multiple times I really don't see how he'd lose a trail after any other post-TCW interaction. After that he went to confront him on Tatooine, where he got absolutely sliced. So I'm not really sure how the two could have a run-in without muddling Maul's arch in Rebels. 

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8 hours ago, Arpy said:

Yeah, one of my gripes with any Obi-Wan spinoff is just how exactly do you do something with a character who's meant to be keeping his head down and embracing the hermit life in order to protect Luke.

 

Then...

 

 

Introducing Kid LukeTM everybody!

Basically this:

 

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Some articles claim it's on hold indefinitely, others say it's pushed back some time. Others say it's the scripts, some say it's only a few, some extrapolate Ewan McGregor's comments every which way.

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On 1/23/2020 at 11:02 PM, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

Is there are a SW project by Disney that hasn't had production woes? I don't recall any drama from The Mandalorian, but I'm not sure. It just seems like everything I hear about Disney Star Wars involves rewrites, reshoots, people being fired etc.

 

The Last Jedi, unless you count Mark Hamill not liking the Luke take.

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