McGregor Talks Obi-Wan, From Movie To Mini Series
Speaking to Men’s Journal — on the morning he told the world that Obi-Wan would return — Star Wars icon Ewan McGregor said it was a “massive relief” to be able to talk about his return to a galaxy far, far away.
“Because for four years, I’ve been having to lie to people about it.”
McGregor Returns to Star Wars
“The storyline sits between Episode III and Episode IV,” he says, dropping us a breadcrumb. The last time we saw him in the role, “the Jedi Order was falling apart. It will be interesting to take a character we know in a way and show him—Well, his arc will be quite interesting, I think, dealing with that the fact that all the Jedi were slaughtered with the end of Episode III. It’s quite something to get over.”
For the record, he hasn’t rewatched his own Star Wars films since they were first released, but he plans to. He mostly remembers them being disliked because “they were political”… Of returning to the character after 15 years, he insists time is only an asset. “I want to get closer and closer to how Obi-Wan felt while Alec Guinness was playing him. I feel like I’m grayer and nearer him in age, so it’ll be easier to do that.”
He then reiterates the obvious: “I’m not allowed to tell you anything about it.” Though he did let it slip that the series will be six hour-long episodes. (Feast on that chum, fanboys!)
With that, an assistant comes to get him from his trailer. He’s due on stage in a few minutes, where Kathleen Kennedy—the head of Lucasfilm—will introduce him, telling the crowd: “After secrets and fibs and not being able to talk about it, I am thrilled to bring out a beloved member of the Star Wars family.”
Obi-Wan Returns to Disney+
Of the series origins, in an exclusive, McGregor confirmed to ComingSoon.net the series was supposed to be a film.
Two years ago, director Stephen Daldry was supposedly lined up to direct a standalone Obi-Wan film. Unfortunately, the dismal box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story put all the spinoff movies on hold. Today ComingSoon.net got to speak to Ewan McGregor at the Doctor Sleep junket, where he confirmed that before it was going to be a Disney+ series it was indeed going to be only a single film.
“It wasn’t always going to be a series, not initially,” McGregor confirmed. “When we first started talking about, that wasn’t really in the cards but everything’s changed so much, so quickly. It’s really exciting that it is now. I’m really into the idea to be able to tell the story over several hours instead of just one hit. I think it’s going to be quite cool.”
Consisting of six hour-long episodes, the new series will take place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, where we last saw Obi-Wan delivering the infant Luke Skywalker to his Tatooine homestead. It is expected to begin its production in summer 2020.
All of which is good, because the state of Star Wars movies seems to be in disarray. However, Lucasfilm has the production team for Obi-Wan lined up.
Assembling The Series
Coming Soon added:
The series will be written by Hossein Amini (The Alienist, Drive) and directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian). Chow, Amini, and McGregor will serve as Executive Producers alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Tracey Seaward (The Queen) and John Swartz (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). Jason McGatlin, Lucasfilm’s Executive Vice President Production, will serve as co-producer.
McGregor took over the role of Obi-Wan for the Star Wars prequel trilogy two decades ago from the late Alec Guinness. His last live-action appearance was in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. However, McGregor also lent his voice to Rey’s Force vision in The Force Awakens.
For this fan, the Obi-Wan film is a true gift and thankfully one that will actually be delivered.