Hello there! Ewan McGregor is reportedly back as Obi-Wan in a new Star Wars series on the Disney+ streaming service. Details are understandably a little thin on the ground, though word is that there’s potentially going to be a lot of money involved. The House of Mouse, after all, doesn’t do things by halves.
As first reported by renowned Star Wars insider Jordan Maison at Cinelinx (and later confirmed by Deadline), it appears that McGregor is in line to return as the Jedi Master he first played in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, 20 years ago. Yes, we’re old.
The original report says that McGregor has already signed on the dotted line, though nothing has yet been confirmed. Talking of complete lack of confirmation: no plot, title, release date, or cast has yet been revealed at this very, very early stage – though D23, Disney’s fan expo, is just a week away. There’s potential for a big announcement to arrive during the Disney live-action panel on Saturday, August 24.
Deadline, though, has dropped an interesting tidbit, saying the new Star Wars Disney+ series starring Obi-Wan will be a “big budget” affair. The other Disney+ Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, has a $100m budget for its first season according to The New York Times, so McGregor’s return may involve similar amounts of serious moolah.
A latter-day Obi-Wan project has been the talk of Tatooine for some time now. Even McGregor himself said back in 2016 that he “always thought there was a story to tell between my last one and [original Obi-Wan actor] Alec Guinness’ last one,” but his only ‘appearance’ in the interim was reprising his role for a brief voice cameo during Rey’s vision in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Well, Ewan, with the Obi-Wan series in the works on Disney+, maybe this is the story you’re looking for.
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