Long rumored Obi-Wan Standalone is looking more and more likely

[Porthos]

Even for people who had mixed feelings about the prequels (or outright hated them), there was near* universal agreement that Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of truly great things in them.

* I say 'near' universal because there is no such thing as universal agreement about ANYTHING in the SW fandom community. :smalltongue:

And there has been quite the call from some of these fans for a Obi-Wan standalone ever since the announcement that standalones/anthologies would be in the works.

Well, news broke today on The Hollywood Reporter that might make this more likely than not (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/obi-wan-kenobi-star-wars-film-planned-director-talks-1030505):


Stephen Daldry is Star Wars’ newest hope.

The Oscar-nominated director behind Billy Elliot and The Hours is in early talks to direct a Star Wars stand-alone movie centering on Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Sources say talks are at the earliest of stages and that the project has no script. If a deal makes, Daldry would oversee the development and writing with Lucasfilm brass.

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 movies centering on Yoda and bounty hunter Boba Fett, among other characters.

Now unlike what has been ricocheting across the internet, I am NOT taking this as confirmation that there will be an Obi-Wan standalone. Development is just that: Development.

That being said, having a third standalone was long known, only for it to be blown up in a Fant4stic Four sized crater when Josh Trank imploded a couple of years ago. And, as said in the thread title, an Obi-Wan movie has been long rumored in SW gossip circles.

But ain't nothing official until the press releases go out.

...

In fact, ain't nothing official until it actually hits the silver screen, as Phil Lord & Chris Miller could attest. :smallwink:

That being said, smoke and fire and all that. Also reading between the lines over at Pablo Hidalgo's twitter feed, makes me think we are now far closer to some sort of announcement than not. Say within a couple of months or so. AIUI, the tentative plan was to finalize what the third SW standalone would be back in July, but I reckon the... issues over at the Han Solo production more than likely scrambled things a bit.

As is though, won't surprise me at all to hear an offical announcement sooner than later.

I for one can't wait. Bring me my Yojimbo In SPAAAAAACE, and bring it to me quick. :smallbiggrin:

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EDIT:::

Anthony Brezincan is the go-to guy for SW news over at Entertainment Weekly. He's also one of the more, shall we say, LFL friendly types when it comes to SW rumors and gossip. "LFL friendly"... Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. :smallwink:

Anywho, here's his take on this (http://ew.com/movies/2017/08/17/star-wars-obi-wan-spin-off/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter):


On Thursday, the first sign that it may actually be happening arrived: Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter published a story saying that filmmaker Stephen Daldry is in talks to direct the project.

If it happens.

That’s important: EW’s sources say there’s still an “if” involved, but yes — we can confirm this is a movie that’s being actively explored as a possible stand-alone beyond 2019’s Episode IX.

Lucasfilm and parent company Disney did not immediately respond to a request for official comment on the news.

A source close to the filmmaker suggested it is far from a done deal, calling the news “premature, at best.”

So not confirmed. But, again, reading tea leaves and goat entrails and all the rest, more likely than not, I'd say.

Good times. :smallcool:

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Porthos
Even for people who had mixed feelings about the prequels (or outright hated them), there was near* universal agreement that Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of truly great things in them.

* I say 'near' universal because there is no such thing as universal agreement about ANYTHING in the SW fandom community.

Case in point: I thought Ewan McGregor was one of the worst things about the prequels, which is saying something. James Arnold Taylor did a far better job with voice acting in Clone Wars.

That said, pretty much everyone in the prequels gave the worst performances of their careers, including Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman. Ewan McGregor was at least in good company.


Originally Posted by Porthos
I for one can't wait.

I’m…ambivalent. Presumably they’ll cover his early years in the Jedi Order, since the Clone Wars period has been thoroughly covered by movies and the animated series, and after that time he was occupied perfecting his krayt-dragon calls.

If it’s set between Episodes I and II, that would mean bringing in Anakin as his padawan, which seems complicated and unnecessary. But even if it’s set before Episode I, they’ll need to bring in Qui-Gonn Jinn, who I sincerely hope won’t be a CGI Liam Neeson.

Although it’s pretty much guaranteed there will be a CGI Yoda. That’s probably the only easy prediction at this point.


Originally Posted by Porthos
He's also one of the more, shall we say, LFL friendly types when it comes to SW rumors and gossip.

What’s an LFL?


Originally Posted by Porthos
But, again, reading tea leaves and goat entrails and all the rest....

Don't you mean bantha entrails? :smalltongue:

[Porthos]

Case in point: I thought Ewan McGregor was one of the worst things about the prequels, which is saying something. James Arnold Taylor did a far better job with voice acting in Clone Wars.

Fair does. :smallwink:


What’s an LFL?

LFL = Lucasfilm Limited. It's a shorthand way of not typing out Lucasfilm all the time. :smallsmile:



Don't you mean bantha entrails? :smalltongue:

Better than tauntaun entrails, at least. :smalltongue:

==

As for when it'd be set, I'd be shocked if it wasn't a post Ep III on Tatooine setting. I'd expect it to be some sort of Spaghetti Western/Ronin/Lone Cowboy type deal, myself. Failing that, possibly getting into some sort of gangster movie with Mos Eisley or Jabba as a backdrop, but I also tend to think the Han Solo flick might cover that ground. If it is that type, more a (PG-13) Tarantino type deal with Kenobi laying the smackdown on mobsters/gangsters while not blowing his cover.

Which is kinda the archtypical post Ep III Kenobi tale. Where he is a lone protector of a bunch of innocents who are unaware of who he is. The dilemma/drama/plot comes from: How much does Kenobi DO to actually help and how much does he risk drawing attention to himself.

For all that some say that there isn't much of a story to tell here, I tend to think the opposite. A small scale look at a person who is trying to stay off the radar, but can't help but get dragged into trouble.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Porthos
For all that some say that there isn't much of a story to tell here, I tend to think the opposite. A small scale look at a person who is trying to stay off the radar, but can't help but get dragged into trouble.

Hmm. That aspect does have its appeal: the paladin who hides himself away, but never stops being a paladin.

Uncle Owen did describe Ben Kenobi as a “crazy old wizard,” so Ben might have developed a reputation in spite of his best efforts; or that could have just been Uncle Owen trying to downplay any hint of the Force. I would tend to think the latter, since Luke didn’t recognize Ben as anyone but a desert recluse—a harmless crank, rather than a local hero.

I’m just not seeing the Tatooine Exile period as being that promising. They couldn’t help but make young Luke a character, so they’d either have to dance around Kenobi never meeting him as a boy, or throw continuity to the solar wind and invent a new backstory in which Kenobi was mentoring Luke all along.

Kenobi’s early years at the Jedi Temple seem to offer more in the way of freewheeling, large-scale Star Wars action. This would be a period when the Jedi still held true to their ideals as peacekeepers—but it’s a big galaxy, and following Kenobi as a young padawan in the field would provide plenty of opportunity for everything from lightsaber duels to major battles. At this early stage, Palpatine wouldn’t (or at least shouldn’t) be a major player yet, but there are plenty of other potential opponents. Kenobi vs. a Mandalorian clan would be a great action-based storyline, especially given the Mandalorians' pride in being Jedi-killers.

Really, Kenobi’s first years as a padawan have the most potential to get him out and about in the galaxy, where we can have a whole variety of cultures, opponents and planetary environments in a single movie. If we’re limited to just Tatooine, it’s going to be very same-ish, especially since Jakku and Jeddah have pretty thoroughly covered the desert-planet motif.

For that matter, an early-Kenobi movie would give us the opportunity to see Jeddah in its prime, before the dark times, before the Empire. If Jeddah was a repository for khyber crystals (correct me if I’m wrong) then a visit could be a key step on the path of Kenobi’s early training.


Originally Posted by Porthos
Better than tauntaun entrails, at least.

So true. :smallbiggrin:

[Porthos]

I’m just not seeing the Tatooine Exile period as being that promising. They couldn’t help but make young Luke a character, so they’d either have to dance around Kenobi never meeting him as a boy, or throw continuity to the solar wind and invent a new backstory in which Kenobi was mentoring Luke all along. :

Well, training, no. But nowhere in SW canon does it say that Luke and "Old Ben" never met. IMO, the implication in SW is just the opposite.

"I wonder if he means Old Ben" and all that.

Not as up on all of the current comics, but I know that some of them have Luke reading a journal by Obi-Wan.

I think the sweet spot is that they had some interactions but nothing too big, thanks to Owen's disapproval.

...

...

...

Then again, who knows what crazy hijinks 10 year olds get up to. :smalltongue:

(No, I am not expecting that, if only because I strongly suspect Lucasfilm is going to stay far far faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away from child actors as a main character for a long long time)

[Mechalich]

I’m just not seeing the Tatooine Exile period as being that promising. They couldn’t help but make young Luke a character, so they’d either have to dance around Kenobi never meeting him as a boy, or throw continuity to the solar wind and invent a new backstory in which Kenobi was mentoring Luke all along.


There actually was a (Legends) novel about this period, the aptly titled Kenobi, which began almost immediately following Obi-Wan's arrival on Tatooine. That avoided any issues with Luke - since he was still an infant - but it was a fairly lackluster novel despite being penned by popular legends creator John Jackson Miller. Based on that experience I'd stay away from small-scale adventures on Tatooine, especially because LFL is highly unlikely to get Ewan McGregor to reprise the role.


Kenobi vs. a Mandalorian clan would be a great action-based storyline, especially given the Mandalorians' pride in being Jedi-killers.

Really, Kenobi’s first years as a padawan have the most potential to get him out and about in the galaxy, where we can have a whole variety of cultures, opponents and planetary environments in a single movie. If we’re limited to just Tatooine, it’s going to be very same-ish, especially since Jakku and Jeddah have pretty thoroughly covered the desert-planet motif.

The problem with young Obi-Wan is that he's Qui-Gon Jinn's padawan and you're stuck in Phantom menace territory where it becomes a Qui-Gon movie and not an Obi-Wan movie and you also have to recast both actors. It may be possible to run a mission where Qui-Gon is largely absent and appears only via holo or something. It might be possible to expand on Obi-Wan's history with Duchess Satine - the backstory was mentioned in exposition during TCW - into a movie, but it would still be tricky. Also, do we really want teenage Obi-Wan?


Obi-Wan's career chronology is hobbled by the fact that he's generally never alone. He's always either with a master, a student, or a clone army (or even an exotic companion like the Clone Wars episodes where he masqueraded as a bounty hunter or worked with Ventress). The one period where he is alone, the dark times, has him stuck in exile on a relatively boring (but also massively overstuffed) planet.

The whole idea involves threading a rather tight needle to even develop a viable story for an admittedly beloved character and it would almost certainly be a one-off by necessity. It makes more sense to me to find some other character (there have to be other Jedi survivors in the new canon right?) who has more options to have a stand-alone film than to force Obi-Wan into a starring role.

[Porthos]

Based on that experience I'd stay away from small-scale adventures on Tatooine, especially because LFL is highly unlikely to get Ewan McGregor to reprise the role.

FWIW, McGregor is keen to reprise his role. (http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/12/ewan-mcgregor-obi-wan-star-wars-movie-jimmy-kimmel/)

[Lethologica]

McGregor turned in a workmanlike wisecracking performance that was lionized because everyone else was 100% serious and dull or 100% goofy and inane. Or whatever Anakin was supposed to be. McDiarmid is a notable exception, largely because he was hammy enough to liven up his serious role.

If McGregor wants to reprise the role, there isn't much flexibility in what part of Obi-Wan's timeline we can explore. But McGregor at least has plenty of experience playing Obi-Wan in a solo film, since that's exactly what he does for most of episodes 2 and 3.

[Yora]

McGregor said he has not been approached by anyone about a role. So we can assume that they don't want him. And if they don't even ask, then it's almost certainly not going to be an Obi-Wan in exile movie.

Which means another origin story! Hooray!

Already I know I won't have to bother watching it.

[Vogie]

If McGregor wants to reprise the role, there isn't much flexibility in what part of Obi-Wan's timeline we can explore. But McGregor at least has plenty of experience playing Obi-Wan in a solo film, since that's exactly what he does for most of episodes 2 and 3.

The main benefit of McGregor being back is that Revenge of the Sith was 12 years ago, and aging technology (both in practical and digital effects) has increased dramatically in that period. So even if they wanted to eschew an origin story, and just expand on (or replace) an existing CW story, they could fit him anywhere within the period between Episodes 3 and 4.

Then again, at the rate we're going, I also wouldn't be surprised if it was a pg13 rehash of Logan, except in Space, and with Jedi instead of mutants.

[Rogar Demonblud]

McGregor said he has not been approached by anyone about a role. So we can assume that they don't want him. And if they don't even ask, then it's almost certainly not going to be an Obi-Wan in exile movie.

They haven't done anything with this movie except talk to one guy. And since it's not even remotely projected to be around until after the end of the current trilogy, they have years to talk to Ewan McGregor.

[Porthos]

McGregor said he has not been approached by anyone about a role. So we can assume that they don't want him. And if they don't even ask, then it's almost certainly not going to be an Obi-Wan in exile movie.

Which means another origin story! Hooray!

Already I know I won't have to bother watching it.

Nothing's been greenlit at all. :smallconfused:

I'd be SHOCKED if it ended up being anyone other than Ewan McGregor.