Coverage: Disney prepping Star Wars film about Obi-Wan Kenobi

The next Star Wars film from Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Co. will center around a character from the original movie, Obi-Wan Kenobi, multiple media reported Thursday.

Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter had the news:

The Obi-Wan Kenobi stand-alone is one of several projects being developed by Lucasfilm and Disney that fall outside the trilogies telling the saga of the Skywalker family. A Han Solo movie is now in the final stages of shooting under new director Ron Howard, and Lucasfilm is also considering pics centering on Yoda and bounty hunter Boba Fett, among other characters.

In the original Star Wars trilogy, Kenobi is a desert-dwelling and war-weary hermit who later proves to be a wise and powerful warrior, brandishing a lightsaber. He is briefly a mentor to a young Luke Skywalker before being cut down by Darth Vader, his former pupil. Alec Guinness’ portrayal of Kenobi garnered him an Oscar nomination.

The character played a central role in the George Lucas-directed prequels, which recount the origin of Vader and his betrayal of Kenobi and the Jedis. Ewan McGregor, who played the younger Kenobi in the prequels, has said he would be open to playing the character again. Sources stress, however, that since there is no script, no actor is attached.

Andrew Liptak of The Verge reports that it’s unclear who would play the Jedi master:

It’s also not known if actor Ewan McGregor will be asked to reprise his role as Obi-Wan, but the actor has expressed an interest in coming back if the need arises. He toldEntertainment Weekly earlier this year that he’d “be happy to do it. It would be a good segue between the last episode of the prequels and the new episodes.”

McGregor portrayed a younger version of the Jedi Master (first portrayed by Sir Alec Guinness in A New Hope) in the franchise’s prequel trilogy, mentoring a young Anakin Skywalker, and eventually ending up on Tatooine. The character has also appeared in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels television shows, voiced by James Arnold Taylor and Stephen Stanton, respectively.

Following the release of Rogue One and The Force Awakens, Disney CEO Bob Iger has noted that the company is looking at what comes after Episode IX when it’s released in 2019, saying that it’s exploring “what could be another decade and a half of Star Warsstories.” It’s not known if that future will include more standalone films like Rogue One or the Han Solo film, or additional “saga-style” trilogies that focus on the Skywalker family, as seen with The Force Awakens and this year’s The Last Jedi.

Justin Kroll of Variety reported that the film may not be the next Star Wars movie:

There is not yet a script or a writer, sources say, and it’s currently unknown if this will be the next standalone story in the “Star Wars” universe.

Disney has been developing several standalone pics with the goal of keeping fans buying tickets while they wait for the next episodes in the main new trilogy. “Rogue One” was the first of the standalones, and Disney is currently shooting an untitled origin tale of beloved smuggler Han Solo. Some of the other standalones in development include a Jabba the Hutt story and a Boba Fett movie.

Daldry cut his teeth in the theater world and made his feature debut with the Oscar-nominated “Billy Elliot.” He followed that up with critically acclaimed films like “The Hours” and “The Reader.” He most recently directed episodes of Netflix’s period drama “The Crown.”