Obi Wan Kenobi

Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Daldry is reportedly in early talks with Disney to helm a film centering on Obi-Wan Kenobi.  At this point, there is no script, but if Daldry signs on, he will oversee the project along with the higher-ups at Lucasfilm LTD.  Nothing else is known, including at what stage of the Jedi Master’s life the film would be set.

Kenobi was portrayed by Sir Alec Guinness (left) in the original trilogy, then by Ewan McGregor (above) in the prequels.  Guinness was nominated for an Academy Award for his depiction in ‘A New Hope’.  McGregor has expressed interest in reprising the role in a film that takes place between ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘A New Hope’.  But then again, the movie could be an even earlier prequel, perhaps showing Kenobi when he was just a Padawan.

In 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced plans to not only produce the final three installments of the ‘Star Wars’ Legacy films, but additional “anthology” movies like ‘Rogue One’ which focused on a new cast of characters, as well as prequel solo films, the first of which is Ron Howard‘s ‘Han Solo’ movie, which focuses on the early days of the famous space smuggler (played by Alden Ehrenreich).  A ‘Boba Fett’ film has also been in the earliest stages of development for a while now, with little movement.  There is even buzz that they might do a young ‘Yoda’ film as well.

Fans have inquired about a Kenobi film, but the scuttlebutt as to why there were no plans for Wan one is that the character may play a role in the current Legacy trilogy.  If so, we may get a dose in this winter’s ‘The Last Jedi’ and/or the untitled final film.

With ‘The Last Jedi’ so close, perhaps whatever plans were in place for Kenobi have been hammered out, leaving the door open for a solo movie of some kind.

Daldry’s debut film was the Academy Award-nominated ‘Billy Elliot’, which he followed up with such acclaimed dramas like ‘The Hours’, ‘The Reader’ and ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’.  He also directed the stage musical version of ‘Billy Elliot’.  Most recently, he has executive produced and directed the Netflix series ‘The Crown’.  His next project is the film adaptation of the stage musical ‘Wicked’.

The ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ film is no doubt several years away.  In fact, since there is no script, it may be years before production even begins.  But if any news surfaces, we’ll let you know.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter