Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, streaming, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, disney, disney plus, Ewan McGregor, obi-wan, star wars, streaming, television, tv

"Obi-Wan": Disney+ Shuts Production on "Star Wars" Spinoff Series; Now 4 Episodes [UPDATE]

Published Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:19:47 -0600

by Ray Flook

Last updated Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:48:58 -0600

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UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter has additional reporting on Obi-Wan:

● Ewan McGregor and director Deborah Chow remain attached.

● Lucasfilm is now looking for a new writer, and is retooling the series down from 6 to 4 episodes.

● One sources claims the storyline for Obi-Wan involving the lead character serving as a mentor to a young Luke and/or Leia was skewing too close to The Mandalorian / The Child aka "Baby Yoda" dynamic.

Only a week after rumors began circulating of trouble behind the scenes of Disney+'s live-action Star Wars spinoff Obi-Wan, Collider is reporting that the Ewan McGregor-starrer has been shut down "indefinitely" (though not cancelled) and that the production crew assembled at London's Pinewood Studios was sent home.

The enterainment news site's reporting – based on "two independent sources with knowledge of the situation" says the reason for the pause in production is Lucasfilm president and Obi-Wan producer Kathleen Kennedy's dissatisfaction with the scripts. Sources say the goal is to rework the scripts and have production resume during the summer, but no specific timeframe has been discussed.

The move comes over three months after Hossein Amini (Drive) was announced as writer and Deborah Chow was set to move from directing two episodes of The Mandalorian to a turn in the director's chair for the Disney+ live-action Star Wars spinoff series. McGregor returns as the Jedi Master for Lucasfilm's 6-8 episode limited series, set for the new streaming service – though it wasn't clear how many episodes Chow would direct.

Heading into the Star Wars universe, Chow's directorial "geek cred" was already established by directing and working on series such as American Gods, Better Call Saul, Lost in Space, Jessica Jones, Reign, and Mr. Robot.

The Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series is the third live-action series on the streamer's programming slate. The Mandalorian premiered when the streaming service debuted on November 12. The third project is a Rogue One prequel series (still untitled) focusing on Deigo Luna's Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor.

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