Just when you thought things were starting to go a little more smoothly for the Star Wars universe (aside from The Rise Of Skywalker's disappointing critical response and relatively lower box office haul), along comes word of another creative hiccup. Collider is reporting that work on the Obi-Wan series has been put on hold so that the scripts can be re-written.
Hossein Amini has been working on the scripts for the series, with director Deborah Chow on board to shoot it this year. Rumours swirled that the show had somehow been scrapped, but according to the Collider report, Kathleen Kennedy and her Lucasfilm team have decided to pause the early pre-production work on the series and send the assembled crew home from Pinewood Studios.
The delay will enable the team to address whatever issues were found with the scripts. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the current plan is to hire a new writer and cut the episode order down from six to four, in the hopes that production can still kick off this year – though the crew have apparently been told that the delay is "indefinite".
With Ewan McGregor set to reprise his iconic role for a show that charts Kenobi's time eight years after the events of Revenge Of The Sith, we're keeping our fingers crossed that the show will stay on course even if we have to wait a little longer to watch the final product.
McGregor himself weighed in on the matter when Variety caught up with him at a Birds Of Prey press event on Thursday night. "I think we start shooting early next year as opposed to summer this year,” he tells the trade mag. “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.” He's also insisting that it's not the huge emergency some have been describing. “I didn’t realize until we got here tonight and everybody is going, ‘Oh, my god!’” McGregor says. “But it’s not really as dramatic as it might seem.” That's Obi-Wan for you, always trying to keep the situation under control.