Lucasfilm’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series directed by Deborah Chow (“The Mandalorian”) brings back Scottish actor Ewan McGregor as the beloved Jedi alongside Hayden Christensen in the Darth Vader role reuniting the prequel co-stars. Others among the cast include Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru, Maya Erskine, and Simone Kessell.
While speaking with Screen Rant to promote the upcoming home video release of “F9: The Fast Saga,” franchise actor Sung Kang has suggested (See video below) that he’s interacted with Darth Vader on the set of “Kenobi” and admits to his character wielding a lightsaber.
“To be on set and see Darth Vader and see the Star Wars universe in front of me, just as a fan to be part of that history is pretty amazing. I kept pinching myself saying ‘How did I get here?’ My character has a lightsaber and to go ‘It’s not a toy, it’s a real thing,'” Kang teased his Star Wars role to Screen Rant.
These comments would support a previous report from the reliable Cinelinx that Sung Kang would be playing a live-action incarnation of The Fifth Brother, a villain introduced in the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels.”
Actress Moses Ingram had teased on Instagram that she would also be using a lightsaber on the show using the caption: “I play with lightsabers.”
Giving fans live-action versions of the Jedi-hunting Inquisitors would certainly add an exciting action element to the streaming series.
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
We’ll likely get a better idea of when “Obi-Wan Kenobi” will begin airing from the upcoming Disney+ Day event in November.
"I kept pinching myself going, 'How did I end up here?' and, my character has a lightsaber!" Sung Kang on heading to a galaxy far, far away in the upcoming #ObiWan series. pic.twitter.com/SmzEBGx3Pf
Production is underway on the Obi-Wan Kenobi show in California but it sounds like we might not see the return of Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn despite The Phantom Menace star’s previous interest in reprising the Jedi Knight, even as just a force ghost.
The Irish actor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his upcoming action film The Ice Road and was directly asked about appearing in the Star Wars series.
Liam Neeson responding with the following statement after being asked if he would show up, “I heard Ewan McGregor was gonna do a series. No, I don’t think so. No, I haven’t been approached.”
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Thinking Neeson would return isn’t coming out of the blue, as fallen Jedi have been known to return as force ghosts and Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith directly mentioned that Qui-Gon Jinn had learned this ability to communicate from beyond the grave before he was killed at the hands of Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
The cast already consists of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi aka Ben Kenobi, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru, Maya Erskine, and Simone Kessell.
The inclusion of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru has all but confirmed we’ll see a young version of Luke Skywalker.
Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) is directing with Joby Harold (Army of The Dead) acting as the showrunner.
There is an expectation that Obi-Wan Kenobi will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022 and has seen it’s episode count bumped to six.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series has had a long journey originally designed to be a feature film similar to Rogue One and Solo until Lucasfilm pumped the breaks then pivoted to a series that would be directed by Deborah Chow. Ewan McGregor was officially confirmed to return to the Kenobi role alongside other prequel actors including Hayden Christensen playing Darth Vader.
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse, and Simone Kessell. Joel and Bonnie reprising their prequel roles of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. A huge sign we’ll be seeing a young Luke Skywalker after the character returned for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Mandalorian Season 2 finale.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Ewan McGregor says that photography hasn’t started but has been doing screen tests with other actors, and teased it could be for young Luke Skywalker.
While principal photography has not yet commenced, McGregor says he “has done some screen tests with Deborah and other people, and I can see that she is a really, really good director.” Might some of those screen tests be with a young Luke Skywalker? He flashes that famous Ewan McGregor grin. “That’s very possible,” he says. “I don’t know.”
He also hinted that he’s been training hard for future lightsaber battles in the show after previous teases that we’ll see the series tackle other locations other than Tatooine. Suggesting we might not being seeing the boring hermit wondering the desert for the entire run of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
MCGREGOR: “For months, we’ve been doing these monster, two-and-a-half-hour sessions of sword fights and hand-to-hand stuff.”
Kenobi will have 6-episodes and debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
Today, Lucasfilm has announced a batch of new additions to the cast of Obi-Wan Kenobi with Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse, and Simone Kessell. They’ll join the previously announced cast of Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, and Indira Varma.
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Bonnie and Joel will be reprising their prequel roles of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, these casting announcements would confirm that the limited series will add a young Luke Skywalker. This makes perfect sense as the limited series is set 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith, also years before Star Wars: A New Hope and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Ewan McGregor has sort of hinted that we could see Ben Kenobi off-world and it’s been officially announced that Hayden will be returning to the role of Darth Vader, so the series will likely have an Imperial angle.
Ewan has confirmed the filming will take place in Los Angeles sometime in spring with Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) directing. The press release includes an update of an April production start.
The incredible cast includes Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie. pic.twitter.com/VltHs5Aw6r
A report from Deadline posted yesterday revealed that British actress Indira Varma has taken an undisclosed role in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series which already stars Ewan McGregor as Ben Kenobi and Hayden Christensen reprising the Darth Vader role.
Varma is likely best know for her supporting role in HBO shows such as Game of Thrones and Rome. However, the outlet isn’t sure who exactly she’ll be playing in Star Wars series that takes place many years before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: A New Hope as Luke Skywalker will still be a child during this era in the timeline.
Deborah Chow, who previously worked on Season 1 of The Mandalorian is directing the spinoff series focusing on the former Jedi Master/General and according to McGregor, Kenobi will begin shooting in Los Angeles around late spring.
Lucasfilm is busy as they’re currently filming The Book of Boba Fett and Andor with a Willow sequel series starting production in Wales this month as well. Other live-action Star Wars shows announced back in December include Season 3 of The Mandalorian, Rangers of The New Republic, Ahsoka, Lando, and The Acolyte. The studio has its hands full as Patty Jenkins will be directing the next feature film, titled Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and has a release date of December 22nd, 2023.
The Book of Boba Fett is expected to be the next Disney+ series to release in the fall.
Despite rumblings that Lucasfilm has started shooting Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ series star Ewan McGregor while chatting with comedian Eddie Izzard for a charity streaming event revealed that production won’t be taking place until “late spring” and that the production location is actually going to be Los Angeles, California and not the United Kingdom as previously rumored.
The chat taking place during Izzard’s marathon Run For Hope and the clip with Ewan was posted on Reddit.
MCGREGOR: “We start making it in the late spring and we’re going to be shooting it here in [Los Angeles].”
He also took some grabs at the inaccurate tabloid reporting on the upcoming production and were it would be taking place stating it had always been planned for a shoot in California, not Boston or the United Kingdom.
My former website Omega Underground actually had talked about Obi-Wan Kenobi possibly shooting in California back in 2017, when the project was still being considered as a feature film at Lucasfilm and we pointed out the state being a strong contender for it’s production for a multitude of reasons.
A late spring shoot would suggest they might not begin until around May-June, given that most projects are being delayed due to COVID-19 seeing them push back from a March start wouldn’t be all that shocking. According to Deadline, The Book of Boba Fett is currently shooting in the California facility which might also have something to do with it.
There is also an interesting production crew report from a South Korean site Cine21 (spotted by Star Wars News Net) that Oldboy cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung has been tapped for the series, however, this has yet to be confirmed by Disney/Lucasfilm. His other credits include IT, The Handmaiden, Uncharted, and Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho.
What we do know is that Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) is directing with Hayden Christensen officially singed-on to reprise the role of Darth Vader. We should also expected to start hearing casting news in the very near future as we get closer to the Star Wars show’s production start.
We’ve seen that anything can happen with Star Wars projects concerning the resurrection of characters and having actors reprising their roles. Collider recently spoke with The PhantomMenace actor Liam Neeson while promoting his new film The Marksman where they asked him if he’d be open to returning to the franchise potentially doing a flashback scene for Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor as the former Jedi, now in hiding on Tatooine as he protects a young Luke Skywalker from being discovered by his father Darth Vader.
Liam sounded open to the idea of doing something for the Disney+ series.
NEESON: “Sure, I’d be up for that, yeah.”
Last month, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed during the Disney Investor Day presentation that Hayden Christensen would be returning to the franchise and will play Darth Vader. How much we’ll see of Hayden is unknown at this time.
Australian actor Joel Edgerton just might be back as Uncle Owen alongside a new actor playing a young Luke.
There is an expectation as with Andor, we could be hearing more casting announcements in the very near future ahead of it’s production start in a couple of months. We’ll keep our fingers-crossed that some Legends characters that has yet to join canon or live-action could be reworked for upcoming Star Wars shows such as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Deborah Chow, who directed action-heavy episodes of The Mandalorian in Season 1 will be helming Obi-Wan Kenobi with filming set to begin this March in the United Kingdom as announced by Kennedy and it’s release date expected to be sometime in 2022.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) officially takes places 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith as announced by Lucasfilm during the Disney Investor Day presentation last week.
Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor made some interesting comments (spotted by The Playlist) on the upcoming Star Wars project which might hint that the limited series may actually leave Tatooine for off-world adventures.
MCGREGOR: “There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure.”
What this could mean is pretty vague as some fans believe that we might get to see some gritty flashbacks to battles during the Clone Wars as General Kenobi giving more of a war-like edge to the prequels or possibly Obi-Wan reflecting on past adventures as a Jedi Knight. Also, it’s possible something else could drag Kenobi off-world like fellow Jedi in distress and during the development of the Sequel Trilogy there was chatter that Rey might have ended up part of the Kenobi family, something that could be explored in this project.
It’s worth mentioning that Hayden Christiensen is confirmed to reprise the role of Darth Vader in the series and having him arrive on Tatooine wouldn’t make a lot of sense as he simply arriving on the planet could sense a young Luke Skywalker’s presence. Then again, he had multiple interactions with Princess Leia without discovering she was his daughter. Having whatever interactions off-world with Obi-Wan Kenobi or through the force could be a better explanation of his involvement. Darth Vader is also under the impression his children died in childbirth and the Empire is possibly only seeking out former Jedi to kill them.
Having off-world adventures might be one of the ways to keep Luke Skywalker’s location on Tatooine kept a secret along with the knowledge that the Jed Knight is using the alias Ben Kenobi while hiding out on the planet or even there to begin with.
Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that production would begin this March and that Andor is already three weeks into it’s UK production.
There are plenty of fans that are praying that the limited series could be the perfect excuse to bring in Legends characters such as Galen Marek aka Starkiller, a powerful character from the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games played by actor Sam Witwer (The Mist) that happened to be Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. He was slightly referenced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story via Mads Mikkelsen’s character Galen Erso and before that with Starkiller Base in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, since he’s a Legends character he can be retrofitted to become whatever a specific project needs him to be and may simply turn Marek into one of the many force-sensitive Inquisitors that are tasked to hunt-down and kill Jedi for the Empire as seen in Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
The Mandalorian has established that most characters aren’t off the table for live-action adaptations as Legends character Grand Admiral Thrawn was repurposed for Star Wars: Rebels and a live-action version could show up on the Ahsoka series after being teased in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
A release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn’t been announced but sometime in 2022 wouldn’t be shocking that Andor is aiming for a release in 2022.
On Thursday we got a massive amount of information all at once and one of the big highlights was all the Star Wars updates from Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. The news included brand new films and television shows along with the official return of prequel actor Hayden Christiensen in the role of Darth Vader.
Here is a rundown of the big news revealed at the event by Kennedy and Lucasfilm.
ROGUE SQUADRON – The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.
I’ll be hopeful that Legends pilot Dash Rendar from Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire is considered for the project given he used the call-sign Rogue Twelve and can finally join Star Wars canon.
Rogue Squadron is set for release on December 22, 2023.
KENNEDY: “Patty has established herself as one of the top directors working in the film industry today. She’s a visionary who knows how to strike the balance between action and heart, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the Star Wars galaxy.”
JENKINS: “It’s been a lifelong dream as a filmmaker to one day make a great fighter pilot film. As the daughter of a great fighter pilot myself, some of the best memories of my life are of seeing my father’s squadron take off in their F4s every morning, and hearing and feeling the awe-inspiring power and grace. When he passed away in service to this country it ignited a burning desire to one day channel all of those emotions into one great film. When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me.”
OBI-WAN KENOBI –Ewan McGregor returns in the iconic role of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for a special event series on Disney+. Officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where he faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. The series is directed by Deborah Chow, who helmed memorable episodes of The Mandalorian,Season 1, and features the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
Despite previous rumblings of filming starting next month, Kennedy confirmed it won’t begin until March.
CHRISTIENSEN: “It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker. Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them… It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
AHSOKA – After making her long awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano’s story, written by Dave Filoni, will continue in a limited series starring Rosario Dawson and executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
After appearing in The Mandalorian, she revealed a search for Star Wars: Rebels villain Grand Admiral Thrawn and this likely means he could be part of show alongside the return of characters like Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger. We wouldn’t be shocked if Filoni ends up directing the bulk of the episodes.
ANDOR –Andor, a tense nail-biting spy thriller created by Tony Gilroy, is set to arrive on Disney+ in 2022. Diego Luna, reprising the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor from Rogue One, will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, FionaShaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. Production kicked off three weeks ago in London.
They showed a sizzle reel that had behind the scenes footage and concept artwork.
THE ACOLYTE – Leslye Headland, Emmy Award-nominated creator of the mind-bending series Russian Doll, brings a new Star Wars series to Disney+ with The Acolyte. The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
I’ll be keeping my fingers-crossed that this potential Sith-focused series with a female lead means we’ll finally be getting Darth Talon or reason to include a version of her.
LANDO – Everyone’s favorite scoundrel Lando Calrissian will return in a brand-new event series for Disney+. Justin Simien, creator of the critically-acclaimed Dear White Peopleand a huge Star Warsfan, is developing the story.
Kathleen Kennedy stopped short from confirming the return of Donald Glover.
A Legends character like Mara Jade could be an interesting addition for the Lando series as before she joined the Empire she was smuggler.
RANGERS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC – Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, this new live-action series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will intersect with future stories and culminate into a climactic story event.
TAIKA WAITITI’S UNTITLED STAR WARS MOVIE – A brand-new Star Wars feature with acclaimed filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Taika Waititi is in development.
KENNEDY: “Taika’s approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected, and…unique. His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride.”
Although, it was noticeable that co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns is absent from the update, despite being mentioned in the original announcement.
Taika begins shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder next month in Australia.
THE BAD BATCH – The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.
They dropped a sizzle reel for the upcoming Disney+ series.
STAR WARS: VISIONS– Presenting all-new, creative takes on the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Visions will be a series of animated short films celebrating Star Wars through the lens of the world’s best anime creators. The anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars.
STAR WARS: A DROID STORY –As Lucasfilm continues to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities to explore. Lucasfilm Animation will be teaming up with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team, Industrial Light & Magic, to develop a special Star Wars adventure for Disney+, A Droid Story. This epic journey will introduce us to a new hero, guided by legendary duo R2-D2 and C-3PO.
The craziest part is that they’re developing even more projects that they didn’t announce or give updates for such as Rian Johnson‘s all-new trilogy.
With the second season of The Mandalorian winding-down, we won’t likely have any new live-action Star Wars until possibly next fall. So, I figured I would give a rundown of what other live-action projects are in the works from Disney+ shows to feature films in various stages of development.
BOBA FETT SERIES: Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had begun shooting without mentioning who exactly was starring, writing or directing the thing. We can only assume with Temuera Morrison now firmly in the role for The Mandalorian that this might be the incarnation that this new project tackles.
I have my own speculation that this might actually end up being Season 3 of The Mandalorian given the lack of information on who is working on it and the proximity of when Jon Favreau wanted to start shooting Season 3. While Lucasfilm can be sneaky, this would be the first time they’ve started filming a Star Wars project without us knowing who was at least writing and directing it.
At one time, Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg were developing a Boba Fett movie but the project ultimate didn’t come together after hiccups between the two making Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. There had even been rumors that James Mangold was in talks to resurrect the series but quickly shot that down along with his involvement with Season 2 of The Mandlorian.
CASSIAN ANDOR PREQUEL SERIES: Diego Luna recently confirmed to Jimmy Kimmel that his Rogue One prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO has already started shooting in London with director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror). Haynes stepped in for Tony Gilroy, who may still end up directing an episode.
The cast for the Star Wars series includes Luna, Alan Tudyk, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Andor will skew more in the spy genre and might continue the tone established in Rogue One.
DEBORAH CHOW’SKENOBI SERIES: Ewan McGregor is officially reprising the Obi-Wan Kenobi role but as we all know uses the name Ben Kenobi while hiding out on Tatooine and overseeing the protection of Darth Vader’s son Luke Skywalker from the Empire. Lucasfilm revealed via a franchise timeline that Kenobi will take place around the time of the Corellia scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) and there are assumptions that Joel Edgerton will return to the role of Uncle Owen along with a new actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. It’s unconfirmed if we’ll be seeing flashbacks to the Clone Wars or if Kenobi will ever go off-world at any point.
Casting announcements should be incoming shortly.
Filming according to Ewan McGregor is expected to take place this March. The locations are said to be Pinewood Studios UK and Boston, England as the Pinewood facility will have their own Volume/StageCraft which has been used frequently on The Mandalorian.
THE MANDALORIAN: A third season of The Mandalorian is expected to begin shooting at some point after there was word from showrunner and producer Jon Favreau they hoped to get filming started before the end of 2020. We had heard that Jon is expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3.
It’s also possible we could see spinoff series focusing on Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. Those have yet to be announced despite the fan assumptions.
LESLYE HEADLAND’SMYSTERY STAR WARS SERIES: Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is officially working on a new female-centric Star Wars series that according to Deadline would include martial arts elements and take place at a different point in the Star Wars timeline.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.
There has been plenty of speculation of what the show could be or who it could focus on but no details have been confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney.
I’m sure we’ll learn more about the series soon.
RIAN JOHNSON’S BRAND-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY: Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has been developing his own original trilogy for the studio but looks to be more focused on his Knives Out sequel at the moment. There haven’t been much in the way of details concerning Johnson’s project but is expected to take place in another era of Star Wars with new characters. Also, there had been some talk that while Rian would oversee all three films he likely wouldn’t end up directing all them.
Here is how the official press release described the trilogy.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce…In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
Johnson has also dismissed multiple claims he’s exited.
TAIKA WAITITI’S STAR WARS MOVIE: After dismissing reports of his involvement, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was officially announced for an upcoming theatrical Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) co-writing the script. This news wasn’t terribly shocking after Kathleen Kennedy suggested wanting to work with him. Taika later getting his feet wet working on Season 1 of The Mandalorian as both director and voicing the bounty hunter droid IG-11.
The Kiwi director is going to be a little busy as he’ll start shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder soon in Sydney, Australia.
JEDI ORIGIN TRILOGY: According to Variety back in October 2019, the Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B Weiss and David Benioff, had been developing a trilogy of films that would have explored the origins of the Jedi.
Benioff and Weiss had ambitious plans to take the “Star Wars” universe in a new direction, one that would exist apart from the Skywalker family saga that comprised the franchise’s centerpiece nine-film series. The Star Wars period the pair was interested in exploring was how the Jedi came to exist. However, Lucasfilm executives and the creators begin to see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer.
This would have likely taken place way before eras like the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic or even The Old Republic.
However, the pair left Lucasfilm for a rather pricey deal with Netflix which seemingly squashed the project for the foreseeable future. There are new rumblings online that this project might get resurrected but it’s unofficial for the moment.
THE OLD REPUBLIC TRILOGY:BuzzFeed had once reported that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a Knights of The Old Republic film that could eventually become it’s own trilogy.
A movie based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — the beloved video game first released in 2003 — is currently being written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) for Lucasfilm, three sources close to the project told BuzzFeed News.
Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy, according to the three sources.
While this was never confirmed, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy teased they’ve had internal discussions about projects in that era during a chat with MTV back in April 2019.
MTV: Knights of The Old Republic, a lot of fans wanna see that, is there any development of that?
KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things might fall..”
There is also a film project that would see Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige get involved as a producer but there next zero official information about what and when that would be. I have to assume it’s either something already mentioned like Taika’s film or something that hasn’t been made public.
I’m sure with Disney keen to get more originals for Disney+ that we’ll likely hear about more live-action Star Wars shows in the near future.
THE RONIN 