Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stephen Daldry is in early talks for the film, which would center on the Jedi master who has been played by both Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor.
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. It's not known at this stage if Ewan McGregor will reprise his role. 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 looking at movies featuring Yoda and bounty hunter Boba Fett, among others.
In the original Star Wars trilogy, Kenobi was at first a desert-dwelling and war-weary hermit who later proved to be a wise and powerful warrior, brandishing a light saber. He was briefly a mentor to a young Luke before being cut down by Darth Vader, his former pupil. Alec Guinness played Kenobi, garnering him an Oscar nomination to boot. The character got star treatment in the George Lucas-directed prequels which told the origin of Vader and his betrayal of Kenobi and the Jedis. McGregor has said he would be open to playing the character again. Sources stress, however, that since there is no script, no actor is attached.
“Rogue One” was the first of the standalones, and Disney is currently shooting an untitled origin tale of beloved smuggler Han Solo. Some of the other standalones in development include a Jabba the Hutt story and a Boba Fett movie.
Daldry hails from the theater world and made his feature debut with Billy Elliot, which netted him his first directing Oscar nomination. He followed that up with searing dramas The Hours and The Reader, which also netted him directing nominations.
He most recently directed episodes of Netflix’s period drama The Crown, which put him into play in this Emmy season.
Originally Posted by Frazod:
I just wish the fucker had sold the rights to Disney back in the 90s.
It's been a long time since I looked at their company but I think they were in a pretty shitty place in the 90s too. Dane will know better but I think they ran out their CEO in the early 2000s and after new leadership came in that's when they righted the ship and started making money hand over fist. But look back at their productions from the 90s. I doubt SW would have been much better than what Lucas puked out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
It's been a long time since I looked at their company but I think they were in a pretty shitty place in the 90s too. Dane will know better but I think they ran out their CEO in the early 2000s and after new leadership came in that's when they righted the ship and started making money hand over fist. But look back at their productions from the 90s. I doubt SW would have been much better than what Lucas puked out.
It would have been hard for anybody to fuck the prequels up as bad as Lucas did. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
I've been hearing about this movie since 2012, along with McGregor's involvement, so it would be shocking (and confusing) if they went a different direction.
I like the idea of a successful Film and Stage director at the helm, who's won Tony's and been Oscar-nominated. The performances should be spectacular.
KK's starting to figure it out.
Now, if she would just fire Trevorrow...
I remember hearing that Obi-Wan was a role Ewan took on with no questions asked because he revered it from his childhood. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
The fact that the VFX in Jurassic Park inspired Lucas to take on the prequels should really be a knock on its legacy.
Well, Lucas was the "Ghost Editor" of JP and he mentioned that the effects were "almost there" in 1992 but he didn't go into production on the Prequels until 1997.
You guys can slam Lucas for screenwriting and directing but the guy is an absolute visionary that changed the entire world of cinema. [Reply]
“Rogue One” was the first of the standalones, and Disney is currently shooting an untitled origin tale of beloved smuggler Han Solo. Some of the other standalones in development include a Jabba the Hutt story and a Boba Fett movie. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
Well, Lucas was the "Ghost Editor" of JP and he mentioned that the effects were "almost there" in 1992 but he didn't go into production on the Prequels until 1997.
You guys can slam Lucas for screenwriting and directing but the guy is an absolute visionary that changed the entire world of cinema.
True.
He's kind of like Bob Dylan - a brilliant song writer who has no business actually singing. [Reply]
