Geekery: Obi-Wan Kenobi Series Put on Indefinite Hold
This is a huge shake-up for the series that was confirmed by Ewan McGregor and Disney at SDCC last year – and the streaming service that’s relying on exclusive shows for subscriptions.
The August announcement included the news that a script by Hossein Amini (The Alienist, Snow White and the Huntsman) was complete, and the series was ready to go into production. According to Collider something has changed in the last several months that has caused Amini to leave and Kathleen Kennedy is looking for new writers. Director Deborah Chow and McGregor are both still on board.
There has also been a writing team shift for the Cassian Andor series – Rogue One co-writer Tony Gilroy has taken over sole writing duty for the project, removing showrunner Stephen Schiff from the process entirely.
At least this time they decided to stop early and make changes during the scriptwriting phase instead of halfway through filming. I’d rather have a good series late or no series than some of what they’ve offered up in the last ten years, to be honest.
This dance has been a hallmark of Lucasfilm since Disney bought the company. They’ve become known for their mid-production re-writes, intensive/rushed reshoots, and director swaps. It felt like something had finally clicked in with the company’s execs with The Mandalorian, but it seems we’re in for more of the same till they figure out what the heck they’re doing.
