Everything We Know About the KENOBI Series Delay

This article quotes the reports of multiple sites as news on the Kenobi series delay develops.

Correction for the video above: footage of Chris Messina interviewing Ewan McGregor at 4:00 was provided by Variety, and not Vanity Fair.

6 days ago FandomWire were the first to break the scoop that there were issues on the pre-production phase of Kenobi, claiming: “Sources close to FandomWire have revealed that Disney has canceled its Obi-Wan Kenobi series.” While some sites brushed this scoop off, there appears to be a grain of truth in it.

Yesterday Collider dropped the bombshell that the Kenobi series is delayed indefinitely. “Two independent sources with knowledge of the situation tell Collider that the Obi-Wan series has been put on hold, as the crew that had assembled at Pinewood Studios in London was sent home. A timeframe was not given, but the crew was told that the show would be down “indefinitely.” … “We’re hearing that Lucasfilm president and Obi-Wan producer Kathleen Kennedy was not happy with the scripts. Sources tell us that what will most likely happen next is the scripts will be reworked with the hopeful goal of reassembling this summer, but there’s always the possibility that that timeframe could shift.

The Hollywood Reporter reached out to their sources and confirmed a few more details. “Sources say that the show was even screen-testing actors opposite McGregor… [They] tell THR that the scripts — only two were written — and story became an issue and that the entire package has been jettisoned. Lucasfilm is now on the hunt for a new writer to pen the series. At the same time, sources say the project is being reconfigured from six episodes to four.

IGN spoke directly with Ewan McGregor at an event for Birds of Prey, claiming it is being pushed to start in January: “It’s just slid to next year, that’s all. The scripts were really good. I think now that Episode IX came out and everyone at Lucasfilm’s got more time to spend on the writing, they felt like they wanted more time to spend on the writing. I’ve read about eighty, ninety percent of what they’ve written so far, and it’s really, really good. Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that’s all. Nothing more dramatic than that. It often happens in projects, they just wanted to push it to next year. It will have the same release date, I don’t think it will affect the release date. They’re still shooting towards having the show release when it was going to be originally.

Variety also has video footage of Chris Messina interviewing Ewan McGregor.

ComicBook.com asked Ewan whether or not he knew anything of the shortened episode count. He said simply, “I haven’t heard that.” This doesn’t mean that the shift to a 4-episode count didn’t happen, but the fact that this was news to McGregor is worth noting.

Vanity Fair confirmed with Disney and Lucasfilm on the reason the series is being delayed. “Sources at both Disney and Lucasfilm insisted to Vanity Fair that the Obi-Wan Series remains actively in the works and is not being shelved, saying that the delay was due merely to further development of the story and script rewrites.

JordanMaison on Twitter threw this wrench into the mix: “Welp, since I’ve had more than two (separate) people tell me, I can share a tidbit. Seems like they were (or are, hard to say right now) considering shifting it back to a MOVIE instead of a show. The lower episode count would mean they’ve certainly trimmed elements down.” And when pressed on whether or not he expects the project to end up a film or not he clarified: “About 90% sure it’s gonna be a D+ series.

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