There’s a disturbance in the force! Rumors began swirling last week that there may be trouble brewing with the Disney+ Obi-Wan series & now it seems those rumors were true. It has been announced that the show has now reportedly been put on hold, and with an uncertain future.
“Collider” was the first to report that crew members were sent home just as production was set to begin at London’s Pinewood Studios. According to reports, the show isn’t canceled but the crew was told the show would be down indefinitely. The culprit here appears to be on the scripted side. Only two episodes were written and the story became an issue which caused the entire package to be jettisoned. Lucasfilm is now on the hunt for a new writer to pen the series. At the same time, reports say the series is being reconfigured from being six episodes to four episodes.
Hossein Amini was hired as a writer initially while Deborah Chow, who became the first-ever female Star Wars director thanks to her work on Disney+’s Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, was set to direct. Actors were even beginning to screen test with Ewan McGregor, who is returning as Obi-Wan, but now that is all on hold. McGregor is still attached to star, even with the hold, & Chow will still be on as director.
McGregor himself, who was at a Birds of Prey fan event in Hollywood last night, has downplayed some of the scripted drama and whether he did this on his own or was urged to by The Force, he wanted to assure fans that all isn’t as dire as it seems when he was approached by “Variety” during the event:
“I think we start shooting early next year as opposed to summer this year. I think the scripts are great. They’re in really good shape. They want them to be better. I think we keep our same airdate. All good. I didn’t realize until we got here tonight and everybody is going, ‘Oh, my god!’ But it’s not really as dramatic as it might seem.”
