TV

Ewan McGregor says Obi-Wan Kenobi series still a go, but 'pushed back' over scripts

By

Published on January 24, 2020 10:28AM EST

Ewan McGregor is addressing the recent reports about the status of his Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+, and according to him the Force is still with the project.

On Thursday, multiple outlets reported that the series has been put on hold amid efforts to retool the scripts. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Lucasfilm is now looking for a new writer to work on the series, which could be changed from six episodes to four. It’s not clear when production will resume, but McGregor and director Deborah Chow are said to still be attached. (Collider was first to report the news.)

That same day, at a Los Angeles event for his new film Birds of Prey, McGregor said the series has been “pushed back a bit” over its scripts but denied the project was put on hold.

“It’s not been put on hold, it’s just been pushed back a little bit. The scripts are excellent and they just want them to be better,” he told the Associated Press. “So we just pushed it back, but it’s not — it very dramatic, it would seem, online, there’s all kinds of s— online about it, but it’s only just slid back a bit. We’re still shooting it, I think it will still be aired when it was meant to be and I’m really excited about it. It’ll be fun to play again.”

In a separate interview with IGN, he added, “Now that Episode IX came out and everyone at Lucasfilm has got more time to spend on the writing, they felt they wanted more time to write the episodes. I’ve read about 80, 90 percent of what they’ve written so far, and it’s really, really good. Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that’s all. Nothing more dramatic than that.”

The Obi-Wan series was confirmed back in August at the D23 Expo. The show will star McGregor in the role he last portrayed in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith (aside from voice roles in 2015’s The Force Awakens and 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker). No release date has been set for the show’s premiere.

It’s just the latest Star Wars live-action series touted by Disney+, joining the critically acclaimed The Mandalorian and a title in the works with Diego Luna reprising his Rogue One role as Cassian Andor.

EW has reached out to representatives for McGregor and Lucasfilm for comment.

Related content:

Ewan McGregor says Obi-Wan Kenobi series still a go, but 'pushed back' over scripts

Related Articles