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According to THR, Oscar nominated filmmaker Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) is in early talks to helm the Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone film.
Talks are currently in the early stages and the project is currently without a script. If talks are successful and the parties come to terms, Daldry would oversee the total development of the project, including writing the script with Lucasfilm.
After the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney, the House of Mouse has been discussing several standalone features in the Star Wars universe that are separate from the Skywalker Saga. The first standalone film success came with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story released last year, netting over $1B in global earnings. The Untitled Han Solo movie is currently in the final stages of shooting under new director Ron Howard and Lucasfilm has previously expressed interest in other standalone films revolving around Yoda and Boba Fett.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally played by the late actor Alec Guinness, a role that earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance of the desert dwelling former Jedi Master. More recently in the prequel trilogy, Ewan McGregor brought the young charismatic Jedi Master to life. McGregor is widely viewed as one of the best aspects of the prequel trilogy, so fans would be thrilled to see him return to the role. McGregor has frequently mentioned that he would happily return to the role if asked, but there is currently no actor attached to the project.
Naturally with no script, there are minimal details available about the project and even if there were, Lucasfilm tends to keep things close to the chest anyway. It is not known what period of Obi-Wan’s life the film would focus on, but many fans have expressed desire to see what transpired between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Granted, fans were provided a small taste of that in the most recent season of Star Wars Rebels.
Daldry made his feature film debut with Billy Elliot and followed up with The Hours and The Reader, all of which garnered Oscar nominations for the director. He also most recently directed episodes of Netflix’s period drama, The Crown.
Image: Disney Studios
