Has Disney's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series been put on hold?

Production on the upcoming "Star Wars" series about Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi has been halted. Or at least, for the time being. This is reportedly due to scripts not being as finished as Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy announced at D23 back in August. That's what reliable sources have told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ewan McGregor, who previously played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Prequel trilogy and will play the role again, contradicts The Hollywood Reporter's account. But he confirms that filming has indeed been postponed.

Ewan McGregor: "Bullsh*t! The scripts are great."

The temporary suspension of the project is well known to Star Wars fans: last week they already felt a Force meltdown when it was announced that the Obi-Wan spin-off had not just been postponed, but cancelled entirely. Thankfully, the message turned out to be false information. Phew.

Or not?

According to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, the film's crew, who have already built sets for the shoot originally scheduled for summer 2020 at the Pinewood Studios outside London has been sent home - indefinitely.

In addition, Kathleen Kennedy is reportedly unhappy with Hossein Amini, the screenwriter - he provided the script for "Drive", among other films. Amini's Obi-Wan story would be too similar to the Mandalorian story in "The Mandalorian". As an outsider, he takes on the destiny of a child. In Obi-Wan's case, it's Luke Skywalker. So someone else is supposed to rewrite the story and take it from six to four one-hour episodes.

In interview with The Wrap, Ewan McGregor says:

And adds:

McGregor says Disney is still sticking to the planned release date. According to rumours in the middle, that would be spring 2021. So for audiences, according to McGregor, nothing should change. Now that "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is in cinemas, the people at Lucasfilms have more time for the series and have therefore decided to work even harder on the scripts.

Disney and Lucasfilm have not (yet) commented on the rumours.

Obi-Wan Kenobi series: what we know so far

According to Ewan McGregor, filming will begin in January 2021. The director will be Deborah Chow; she previously directed episodes 3 and 7 of "The Mandalorian". The story takes place between "Star Wars: Episode III" and "Star Wars: Episode IV". Obi-Wan will first have to face the trauma of the annihilation of the Jedi Order. A casting call is said to be circulating among Hollywood agents: they're reportedly still looking for an 8-year-old Luke Skywalker.