Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes, but we can say with some certainty that you’ll be excited to learn: the next Star Wars standalone film may be about Obi-Wan Kenobi. According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Lucasfilm are in talks with Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) to direct a Star Wars film centering on the man who made it cool to say no to Deathsticks, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The long-rumored project is apparently in extremely early stages of development, which means that there is no script and that Ewan McGregor reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker’s mentor isn’t guaranteed. If the film comes to pass, Daldry would work with Lucasfilm to shepherd the film through its development process and the writing. With no actor attached the role, which was originated by Sir Alec Guinness (who earned an Oscar nomination for his performance), we could be looking at a Han Solo-like, never-ending casting call to fill Kenobi’s iconic robes.
Disney and Lucasfilm are currently in production their untitled Han Solo film directed by Ron Howard, which releases on May 25, 2018 and will be the next standalone Star Wars film to follow 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While rumors were swirling that Boba Fett would be the subject of Lucasfilm’s next spin-off movie, it now appears that Obi-Wan is taking center stage.
If it turns out to be true, it’s a smart move for Lucasfilm as the Internet has already latched on to the idea of an Obi-Wan focused solo film, even creating fan-made trailers for the hypothetical movie. Although Obi-Wan’s story has continued in the comic books and on TV shows like Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there are still vast swaths of time that are unaccounted for and plenty of narrative potential to expand on the fan-favorite character’s adventures.
Nerdist reached out to Disney for confirmation, but they had no comment. Stay tuned for further details as this story continues to develop. In the meantime, I’ll be furiously writing a spec script for Obi-Wan: The Desert Years.
What would you want to see from an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie? Let us know in the comments below.
Image: Lucasfilm
