Ewan McGregor says Kenobi series was supposed to be one movie

Star Wars fans all around the world have been excited for an Obi-Wan Kenobi series since before actor Ewan McGregor and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the show at D23 Expo this summer. But now, McGregor has admitted that the series wasn’t actually supposed to be a series — in fact, it was just supposed to be one movie.

“It wasn’t always going to be a series, not initially,” McGregor confirmed in an interview with Coming Soon. “When we first started talking about, that wasn’t really in the card, but everything’s changed so much, so quickly.”

When he refers to the project changing from a standalone film to a series on Disney+, Disney’s new streaming service launching November 12, McGregor really is talking about a project for an Obi-Wan Kenobi film directed by Stephen Daldry. Two years ago, Lucasfilm had reportedly lined up Daldry to direct the Obi-Wan film, but the lackluster bock office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story led Lucasfilm to put a hold on all other Star Wars spinoff films.

But now that Lucasfilm is moving forward with the Kenobi series on Disney+, it looks like fans aren’t the only ones excited to finally see McGregor take to the screen again — and this time in the titular role in a Star Wars project.

“It’s really exciting that it is now,” said McGregor in reference to the Obi-Wan Kenobi project becoming a series on Disney+ instead of a standalone film. “I’m really into the idea to be able to tell the story over several hours instead of just one hit. I think it’s going to be quite cool.”

obi-wan kenobi alec guinness — Credit: Lucasfilm

Of course, it’s natural for McGregor to be enthusiastic about returning to the Star Wars universe. The actor took to the big screen as Obi-Wan in the prequel trilogy, taking over the role from the late Alec Guinness. Though we haven’t seen him onscreen as Obi-Wan in live-action form since 2005, he did voice Rey’s Force vision in The Force Awakens, which die-hard Star Wars fans would have recognized.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney’s new streaming service is expected to begin production in 2020, and so far there’s not much Lucasfilm has shared about the project. But here’s what we know so far.

It will consist of six episodes that are one hour each. It takes place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, which Star Wars and Obi-Wan fans will remember as the film in which we saw Obi-Wan delivering the infant Luke Skywalker to his home in Tatooine.

The series will be written by Hossein Amini (The Alienist, Drive) and directed by Deborah Chow (who fans will know is working on The Mandalorian). Chow, Amini, and McGregor will serve as executive producers alongside Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, Tracey Seaward (The Queen), and John Swartz (who’s also a Star Wars alum, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in his repertoire). Lucasfilm’s Executive Vice President Production Jason McGatlin will serve as co-producer.