“Kathleen, could you ask me in front of all of these people, all of these witnesses, can you please ask me: Am I going to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again?”
That’s what Ewan McGregor said to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy when she introduced him at Disney’s D23 fan expo last summer to confirm that a new series featuring his Star Wars character would be developed for the company’s upcoming streaming service.
“Ewan?” she asked. “Are you going to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again?”
“Yes!” McGregor answered breathlessly. “Feels so nice! It’s been four years of saying, ‘Well I don’t know … we’ve been talking …maybe if they called me, I’d be happy.’ But now I can say— yes, we’re gonna do it.”
As of today, that answer is still yes — Disney+ continues to develop the show about the exiled Jedi in middle age, set at some point before he and Luke Skywalker venture off with Han and Chewie to save Princess Leia in 1977’s original Star Wars. However, multiple sources close to the production confirm that shooting of the series has been placed on hold while the the scripts get an overhaul.
A release date for the show was never announced so it’s unclear how this production change will affect that. McGregor remains committed, a source told Vanity Fair, and so is series showrunner Deborah Chow, who directed two acclaimed installments of The Mandalorian.
Rumors began to circulate last week that the show was full-on canceled when word spread from crew workers that they had been furloughed, and sound stages that had been reserved for the show at Pinewood Studios outside of London were released from the schedule and cleared. Sources at both Disney and Lucasfilm insisted to Vanity Fair that the Obi-Wan Series remains actively in the works and is not being shelved, saying that the delay was due merely to further development of the story and script rewrites.
The delay is not expected to last more than a few months. Star Wars fans saw their worries eased last week amid confirmation the show was still happening, but alarm exploded again Thursday when Collider journalist Adam Chitwood published a report that delved deeper into the production delays. Lucasfilm declined to comment on the matter.
The main part of the Obi-Wan presentation at D23 last summer that no longer seems to apply is something Kennedy told the crowd after McGregor confirmed his return onstage. “I’ll also tell you we are really close. We have all the scripts written. We are ready to start shooting next year, and we can’t wait to start production,” she said.
Now, it seems, the wait begins.