It’s been a heck of a week for Disney+ seriesObi-Wan. On Thursday, we reported via two independent sources theObi-Wancrew assembled at Pinewood Studiosin London had been sent home with the crew told the show would be delayed “indefinitely.” Those sources also told Collider Lucasfilm headKathleen Kennedywas reportedly not happy with theObi-Wanscripts and opted to put the show’s production on pause so those scripts could be reworked with the goal to resume production later in the year. Now,Obi-Wanseries starEwan McGregoris going on record to provide further commentary on the situation, including confirmation of the new filming start date.
Speaking withVarietyat aBirds of Preyfan event in Los Angeles on Thursday night, McGregor confirmed a 2021 start date. He told Variety, “I think we start shooting early next year as opposed to summer this year. I think the scripts are great. They’re in really good shape. They want them to be better. I think we keep our same airdate. All good,” and went on to further keep the cool by downplaying any possibility of dramatics by remarking, “I didn’t realize until we got here tonight and everybody is going, ‘Oh, my god!’ But it’s not really as dramatic as it might seem.”
In a similar yet slightly more colorful comment to theAssociated Press(viaEntertainment Weekly), McGregor expanded the “it’s not that dramatic” line, explaining,
“It’s not been put on hold, it’s just been pushed back a little bit. The scripts are excellent and they just want them to be better. So we just pushed it back, but it’s not — it very dramatic, it would seem, online, there’s all kinds of shit online about it, but it’s only just slid back a bit. We’re still shooting it, I think it will still be aired when it was meant to be and I’m really excited about it. It’ll be fun to play again.”
Speaking withIGN, McGregor went a step further, telling the site,
“Now thatEpisode IX[Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker] came out and everyone at Lucasfilm has got more time to spend on the writing, they felt they wanted more time to write the episodes. I’ve read about 80, 90 percent of what they’ve written so far, and it’s really, really good. Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that’s all. Nothing more dramatic than that.”
So, for now it seems like McGregor’s comments reaffirm what our sources told us about theObi-Wanproduction delay this week. Additionally, at time of reportingDeborah Chow, who directed some of the most impressive and engaging episodes ofThe MandalorianSeason 1, is still attached to the series as director.The Hollywood Reporterweighed in with a report sayingHossein Aminimay not longer be attached to write as they look for a new screenwriter to work on the scripts and scale back the series from six episodes to four. Per a source to THR, the “Kenobi story treaded similar ground asMandalorian,seeing the Jedi master lending a protective hand to a young Luke and perhaps even a young Leia.”
