Disney+ announced today that their highly anticipated new Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, will now be released on Friday, May 27th instead of their original release date of Wednesday, May 25th. The reason for the delay is unknown, but to make up for it, Disney+ will now release two new episodes upon release as opposed to one.
The streaming service made this announcement with a video featuring Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), the star of the series, via Twitter.
This announcement comes just a few weeks after Disney+ released their first trailer for the series. The show is currently six-episode limited series, but Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy (Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens) teased the possibility of an extension of the series in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“It’s certainly something we talk about, mainly because everybody came together and had such an incredible time,” Kennedy said. “Ewan had an incredible time. Hayden [Christensen] had an incredible time. So certainly from that point of view, everybody involved would love to see this not end. But we have to really spend our time asking the question: Why would we do it? If we were to decide to do anything more with the Obi-Wan character, we’d have to really answer the question why?
The series stars McGregor, who played Kenobi in all three of the Star Wars prequels, as well as Hayden Christensen (Shattered Glass), who played Anakin Skywalker in the last two prequels and will be playing Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also returning to the franchise is Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby) as Uncle Owen and Bonnie Piesse (My Husband’s Jump) as Aunt Beru, who both played their respective characters in the last two prequels.
Newcomers to the Star Wars franchise in this series include Rupert Friend (The Death Of Stalin), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), and O’Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton).
Obi-Wan Kenobi is executive produced by Kennedy, McGregor, Michelle Rejwan (Super 8), Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian), and Joby Harold (Edge Of Tomorrow). Chow will direct all six episodes of the series.