News of theObi-Wan Kenobimovie finally emerged today and rumors are suggesting that Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot,The Hours) will direct the often talked about spin-off. This is terrific news forStar Warsfans who have been botheringEwan McGregorfor years about anObi-Wan spin-off movie. Castings have not been announced yet, but McGregor has expressed interest over the years about reprising his role as the sensitive Jedi Master. It has also been reported that there is not a script just yet, so it could be a while before we end up seeing the project.
The Hollywood Reporterwere the first to announce the nextStar Wars Story. It has been reported that Stephen Daldry is in the very early stages of talking to Disney about possibly helming theObi-Wan Kenobimovie. Looking at the Tony Award winning director’s slate shows that he’s directing the big screen adaptation ofWickednext, which has been talked about for years. Daldry has said that production is to start in 2018 for that project, so we’re looking at quite a wait for theObi-Wan Kenobi movieif Lucasfilm and Daldry strike a deal.
Stephen Daldry has never directed anything remotely close to aStar Warsmovie, so it will be interesting to see his take on one of the galaxy’s most beloved characters. Daldry’s most recent work was directing some episodes of Netflix’sThe Crown, a project that earned the director an Emmy nomination. If the Hollywood Reporter sources are to be believed, Daldry will work closely with Lucasfilm throughout the development phase of the spin-off, including the writing of the spin-off. The news is coming from unnamed sources. Nothing has been officially announced by Stephen Daldry or Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
Lucasfilm is about to wrap production on the upcomingHan Solomovie, which has seen its fair share of turbulence during its production. Original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller were reportedly fired for not seeing eye to eye with the brass at Lucasfilm and were swiftly replaced by Ron Howard. Questions arose about how much creative control Disney and Lucasfilm allow their directors while taking on such mammoth projects.Star Warsis a big deal to a lot of people all over the world, so one can assume that Stephen Daldry has a lot to consider before jumping into such a large project.
As previously stated, Stephen Daldry directing the movie is an unconfirmed rumor at this point, but it looks as if Disney and Lucasfilm are ready to get to work on the future of theStar Warsuniverse. It is also rumored that talks of theBoba Fettspin-off andYoda spin-offare being discussed at this very moment. We could end up getting a lot moreStar Warssooner than later, which is awesome. Lucasfilm had a massive hit withRogue Oneso one can see why they want to explore evenmore of the Star Wars universein a more detailed manner. Let’s just hope that if Daldry does end up taking on the project that he keeps it and sees it through to the end.
