Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI Movie is Rumored to be in Pre-Production and Will Start Shooting in 2019
Another report has surfaced regarding Lucasfilm's Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. While the studio has yet to officially announce the film, there have been plenty of reports to suggest that it's moving forward. The latest report comes from Fanthatracks, and they say that pre-production on the movie has officially started and that the studio is prepping to start shooting in 2019 for a 2020 release.
Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliott, The Reader) has been rumored to be directing the film, and according to this recent update, he and his writing team have been working on the development of the film since late last year.
The following information is said to have come from a "well-placed" source:
The project is sufficiently along that an art department is now in full pre-production mode at Pinewood Studios, England with ancillary work being carried out at Industrial Light & Magic in London. A number of concept artists, prop modellers, and storyboard artists are working as a team across the two locations on the film, with the group growing in numbers every month.
Contracts have also been extended to a number of crew who have worked on various Star Wars films produced at Pinewood under the Disney era, to join the production when their work on Episode IX ends. This will see the Obi-Wan crew grow gradually over the remainder of the year but primarily from October on wards.
Pre-production will continue at Pinewood whilst Episode IX shoots from this summer through the end of the year, at which point production of the Obi-Wan movie has been scheduled to move onto stages in mid January 2019 with the main shoot to begin in April of 2019.
The project is being developed under the corporate name of PLT Productions (UK) Ltd.
The scheduled release date is December 2020.
It was previously rumored that parts of the film would be shot in Belfast. There are no details regarding any casting, but fans do hope to see Ewan McGregor reprise his role as Kenobi. He's expressed interest in doing it, so hopefully Lucasfilm is going to bring him on board.
I'm a big fan of this character, and while some people don't see the point of telling a standalone story for him, that's something I would love to see.
These are all just rumors for now as the studio hasn't officially announced anything, but I hope it all turns out to be true. What are your thoughts on this film?