‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Series Put On Hold At Lucasfilm As Scripts Need Reworking

There has been a major disturbance in the force and it’s possibly the worst kept secret of…. at least the last few days. The “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series at Disney+ has been put on hold at Lucasfilm, and this follows rumors that the whole show was canceled, but were denied by the company late last week. Many reporters have been working on this story for the last few days, trying to get proper sourcing, but the credit definitely goes to Collider for breaking the story. THR follows up and confirms the reports and adds more details.

Word had been spreading last week that the crew members at Pinewood, scheduled to start pre-production soon, and shoot in the summer, had been told things were abruptly canceled and the plug has been pulled (at least for now). This has been essentially confirmed by Collider who says “the crew that had assembled at Pinewood Studios in London was sent home. A timeframe was not given, but the crew was told that the show would be down ‘indefinitely.'”

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According to THR, only two scripts were written “and the 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 series is being reconfigured from being six episodes to four episodes.”

Both trade repeat what was essentially in the wind, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was not happy with the script or story and a last minute decision was made to halt pre-production and start over. Rumors have said Obi-Wan could start shooting again in the fall, but that’s not verified and far too early to tell. But chances of ‘Obi-Wan’ arriving in 2020, if they do indeed figure out the scripts at all, are slim to none.

Here’s a juicy (awful-sounding) script nugget from THR. “One source said the Kenobi story treaded similar ground as ‘Mandalorian,’ seeing the Jedi master lending a protective hand to a young Luke and perhaps even a young Leia, perhaps mirroring how the ‘Mandalorian’ took Baby Yoda under his protective custody.”

However you want to frame it, the “indefinite” delay, rewriting, hold, production shutdown, etc. etc. is not a particular good narrative for “Star Wars” and Lucasfilm and feels very reactionary based on the disappointment of “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker” which is very likely going to end up as the lowest-grossing film in the new Skywalker final trilogy saga. I’d heard the same last week,:Lucasfilm were dissatisfied with the scripts and given the unsatisfactory results of ‘Rise Of Skywalker,’ which Disney and Lucasfilm all hoped would at least outgross “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” the winds at Lucasfilm started to shift. Again, this feels reactive, or at least, preemptive before Lucasfilm took yet another hit.

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“Obi-Wan Kenobi” was to star Ewan McGregor as the master Jedi who fought in the clone wars and spent some 18 years on Tatooine in secret, in the desert, quietly looking over a young Luke Skywalker until he came of age, the story told in “Star Wars: A New Hope.” We don’t know what the show would have been about, but presumably, it would have been some threat to Luke or the Larson aunt and uncle family taking care of him on the remote planet. Speculation included crime syndicate wars bubbling over, another Darth Maul showdown (though that already took place on “Star Wars: Rebels” and very definitively).

READ MORE: Taika Waititi Being Sought By Lucasfilm To Make A ‘Star Wars’ Movie

Filmmaker Deborah Chow, who shot a couple of episodes of Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” was set to direct the series. She apparently remains attached for now. Chow directed some terrific episodes. Hossein Amini, known for “The Alienist” and Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” was hired as the writer, but it sounds like his script is being junked.

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Still active works at Lucasfilm, until we hear otherwise, anyhow, are “The Mandalorian” season two and the “Cassian Andor” show that Tony Gilroy (“Rogue One” writer and sort of co-director) is set to write and direct the pilot of. I’ve also heard, while there is already a showrunner, Gilroy has taken on a larger role on the show and could help oversee the entire narrative and series.

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