Disney and Lucasfilm may have been hit with a case of franchise fatigue with their Star Wars theatrical releases due to disappointing box office returns, fragmented storylines and tepid reviews, but the television side seems to be on the rise.
The Mouse House’s new streaming service, Disney Plus, debuted their first original show, The Mandalorian, late last year to rave reviews and tons of social media awareness thanks in large part to Baby Yoda. Of course, Disney also announced that they were developing another live-action Star Wars series centered around a beloved character in the saga, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that Ewan McGregor was reprising his role from the prequels.
The actor is currently promoting Birds of Prey and receiving lots of questions regarding Obi-Wan. While appearing on Good Morning America, he reiterated that despite some recent bad press, the show is still on track to begin production and that he’s eager to dawn the cloak once again.
“We start shooting at the very beginning of next year, they’re in pre-production from this summer, there are scripts that I’ve read that are really good, they’re continuing to write on them to make them even better, and we start very early next year. And I’m excited about it. I think the last one I shot was in 2003, so it’s been a while. It’ll just be there, I think. Also, I’m reminding myself by watching their new films and The Mandalorian and stuff, I really enjoyed. I keep myself as current as I can with the Lucasfilm world. I don’t think it will take two minutes; I’ll put the cloak back on and I’ll be there, I think.”
Part of being in a big money-making machine is that you have to put on a happy face and convey positivity, which is what McGregor is doing here. After all, his comments are quite the contrast from the numerous reports that have indicated trouble with the production.
If you’ll recall, the show was originally supposed to begin shooting this summer, but was pushed back to next year. First, there were rumors that it had actually been canceled, but those proved to be false. Then a few weeks ago, we reported that there was drama between McGregor and Disney over scheduling and script issues. There was even concern over filming locations which would take place in Australia to recreate the planet Tatooine. But due to fire danger, perhaps the show just had to look elsewhere. Next week, it’ll probably be something else.
Making Star Wars content is never easy, of course, but it sure does seem like there’s some unforeseen force (sorry) here not wanting this show to happen.
