By: Dominic Jones
It looks like fans hoping the next Star Wars stand alone film would center around Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi may be in luck. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Academy Award nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) is in early talks to helm an Obi-Wan film. THR describes the film as being "in early stages" of development with no script having been written. It is also not known whether Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan in the prequel trilogy (and reprised the role for a vocal cameo in The Force Awakens), has been approached about starring in the film. No release date is given.
Daldry is best known for directing the films Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002), and The Reader (2008), all of which he received nominations for the Best Director Oscar. He also served as executive producer on the Netflix series The Crown (2016-), which he also directed the first two episodes of. He has also directed several plays in London's West End and on Broadway in New York.
There have been rumblings about an Obi-Wan movie for several years now, which led to much fan demand for the project. While THR reports that it's not known if McGregor will reprise his role in the new, the actor has gone on record several times saying he would be interested in coming back as Obi-Wan. McGregor has pointed to the era between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope as the time he would be most interested in exploring with the character--which is a sentiment that many fans share.
As always, there is a chance that this may be true (though The Hollywood Reporter is generally one of the most trusted outlets when it comes to breaking entertainment news like this) or talks between Lucasfilm and Daldry could fall through. But at the moment, it looks very likely that the next Star Wars stand alone film (following this year's The Last Jedi, next year's untitled Han Solo film, and 2019's Episode IX) will be the highly anticipated Obi-Wan stand alone.
UPDATE: Both Variety and Entertainment Weekly have checked this story with their sources and are reporting that there is truth to it.
Variety confirmed much of what THR had already reported, but through in this little nugget about what other film's might be in the works,
"Some of the other standalones in development include a Jabba the Hutt story and a Boba Fett movie."
For their part, EW was much more cautious when reporting the news. Senior reporter Anthony Breznican reported that his source described the news as "premature, at best," suggesting that talks were still in an early phase (which, to be fair, THR said too) and that the deal could still fall through.
All that being said, one thing is consistant across all the reports, this film is definitely something Lucasfilm and Disney are exploring making and Stephen Daldry is the man they want for the job.
UPDATE: Both Variety and Entertainment Weekly have checked this story with their sources and are reporting that there is truth to it.
Variety confirmed much of what THR had already reported, but through in this little nugget about what other film's might be in the works,
"Some of the other standalones in development include a Jabba the Hutt story and a Boba Fett movie."
For their part, EW was much more cautious when reporting the news. Senior reporter Anthony Breznican reported that his source described the news as "premature, at best," suggesting that talks were still in an early phase (which, to be fair, THR said too) and that the deal could still fall through.
All that being said, one thing is consistant across all the reports, this film is definitely something Lucasfilm and Disney are exploring making and Stephen Daldry is the man they want for the job.
Follow The Star Wars Underworld on Twitter @TheSWU for more updates about this story and other breaking Star Wars news.
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