Deadline reported that the specifics regarding the Obi-Wan Kenobi revival for Disney + has been paused for a reshuffling of the creative team. Hossein Amini is no longer attached to write, and the show will go back to the drawing board and wait for a new hope to emerge for a show that has a star in Ewan McGregor but no clear battle plans.
The same day that Star Trek fan-favorite Patrick Stewart returned to active duty in a beloved sci-fi screen role the news spread that Jedi Universe fans will have to wait longer than they expected to see McGregor’s long-awaited role reunion.
Lucasfilm had a huge success with its first live-action television series production with The Mandalorian and expectations for the Obi-Wan solo series soared when McGregor and Lucasfim President Kathleen Kennedy made a high-wattage stage appearance at D23 Expo in Anaheim. Shooting would start in 2020, Kennedy said, and a cache of scripts resented a screen saga that was ready to roll.
The pause for the project follows an early history of lost momentum. The project was previously pursued as a feature film for McGregor’s willful Jedi knight the character was originally introduced in the 1977 film by the late, great Alec Guinness.
The Obi-Wan series news 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.
The Obi-Wan revival is not the first Disney Plus “Star Wars” TV project to see a major overhaul behind the scenes. Variety reported that the planned “Rogue One” prequel series starring Diego Luna as Cassian Andor brought in the film’s credited co-writer, Tony Gilroy, to work alongside showrunner Stephen Schiff. Gilroy is now set to write the pilot for the series in addition to directing multiple episodes.