- How the Obi-wan spinoff is secretly moving forward!
News of the long-awaited Obi-wan standalone film
has been so confusing lately that we have to wonder
if someone has been playing a Jedi mind trick on everyone.
The latest news in this twisted narrative
came this Sunday from the Belfast Telegraph,
and now it looks like not only is the Obi-wan flick
moving forward,
but it's been in motion this whole time.
- Hello there!
- Despite previous reporting claiming the opposite.
So we're piecing together various tidbits and rumors
about filming locations and certain Star Wars creators
possibly being involved
in an attempt to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.
Welcome to Bizarre States. Ha, kidding.
It's still Nerdist News.
Now we've heard whispers in the past
that director Stephen Daldry
had left the Jedi master's flick
before Lucasfilm's last standalone story Solo came out.
Daldry was never officially attached to the project,
so the news of him departing the Kenobi film
almost seems to cancel itself out.
Then there were rumors that Disney and Lucasfilm
were putting a halt to all Star Wars standalone films
after Solo's less-than-stellar box office showing,
which Lucasfilm promptly said was false.
Then this week's Kenobi news was ignited by an announcement
in that Belfast paper that a Game of Thrones prequel
will be shooting in Northern Ireland
along with the latest spinoff in the Star Wars franchise
coming here in April, 2019.
The article clarifies that this unnamed picture
is in fact the Obi-wan standalone,
and that Ewan McGregor will reprise his role
as the Jedi council member in exile.
And after the article drops this information bombshell,
it just goes back to talk about more Game of Thrones.
Back up, Belfast Telegraph.
You're just gonna casually mention
the previously unconfirmed Obi-wan film,
and its shooting date, and its unconfirmed lead actor.
Way to literally bury the lead.
Now to be fair, the Belfast Telegraph
did report earlier this year that George Lucas was in town
and got a tour of the very same film studios
that are now reported to be the shooting location
for the Obi-wan film.
They then added that afterwards,
he sealed the deal for the shooting location.
There's even photographic evidence
that George was hobnobbing in Belfast last fall.
But was he really there to seal the deal?
Well, since handing over the reigns of the franchise
to Disney back in 2012,
George Lucas has been almost totally hands-off
with no official or direct influence on the films.
So we have doubts that Disney would send him
to go ink a studio deal.
But does it make sense that Lucas would be involved
in the Obi-wan standalone since he created the character
in the original Star Wars films
and directed all three of the prequel films
that Ewan McGregor appeared in portraying the character?
Now despite his comments about how Disney
has treated his creation,
George does keep tabs on the franchise.
We know he dropped by Ron Howard's Solo set
to offer some advice for the characters,
and recently, he purchased the artwork
for the Han Solo Marvel comic miniseries.
It's possible that Disney,
wanting to keep the creator and fans in their good graces,
and George Lucas, having nothing better to do,
could be teaming up to work on the Kenobi spinoff.
And it does seem awfully coincidental
that he would just show up to check out a studio
that the film will reportedly shoot in.
However, we're still gonna file this away
in the maybe category.
Strong maybe, but still maybe.
Nevertheless, whether or not George Lucas is involved,
according to the paper,
the film is moving forward at that location,
beginning production in April.
Now we still don't have a lot of plot details,
but we've previously heard that the Obi-wan film
will take place during Kenobi's years
as a hermit on Tatooine
silently watching over a young Luke Skywalker.
So how exactly do the twin suns on Tatooine
fit into all this?
Northern Ireland's landscape
doesn't exactly scream desert,
so we're betting that the film will not just show
Ben Kenobi's laid back hermit lifestyle.
It looks like Obi-wan will have to leave Tatooine
for some sort of secret mission on another planet.
Wherever Obi-wan's adventure takes place,
it would be nice to see George Lucas
return to the galaxy he created a long time ago
to put his stamp on the iconic character.
But what do you folks think?
Is the Obi-wan Kenobi standalone happening?
Will George Lucas have a large role
in creating the Obi-wan film?
And can we really call a weapon
which cuts people's appendages off all the time civilized?
Let's discuss.
(pensive, tonal music)