Disney is considering a third standalone Star Wars
film centred on Obi-Wan Kenobi, with English director Stephen Daldry
(Billy Elliot, The Hours) in "early talks", according to a new report.
Unlike the new trilogy that began with 2015's The Force Awakens and will continue with The Last Jedi later this year, the Obi-Wan film would be a Star Wars anthology movie, just like last year's Rogue One and the upcoming untitled Han Solo chapter.
According to sources that spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, the film doesn't have a script as of yet, but Daldry would contribute to the writing process with Lucasfilm
heads – Kathleen Kennedy and Lawrence Kasdan – if a deal is put in
place. What's more interesting is that the Obi-Wan standalone entry is
"one of several projects", according to THR.
Kenobi
was played by Sir Alec Guinness in the first Star Wars, where he
briefly served as a mentor to Luke Skywalker. The character had a much
bigger role in the prequel trilogy, where Ewan McGregor played a younger
version of Kenobi, who was Anakin Skywalker's best friend. McGregor has
expressed interest in reprising his role, though it's too early for
casting.
Daldry's hiring would be more in line with
Disney's recent actions, given his long experience as a film-maker, and
the studio's willingness to assert strict control over prodigies. Rogue One
underwent extended reshoots under the supervision of writer-director
Tony Gilroy, after Disney was reportedly unhappy with the version
produced by Gareth Edwards.
On Han Solo, Disney chose to fire
directing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller four months into
production, after the two reportedly clashed with Kennedy and Kasdan
numerous times. In turn, it brought on experienced director Ron Howard
as a replacement, who's now overseeing the final weeks of shooting.
If
Daldry does turn out to be the first and final choice, it'd show that
Disney has concluded that it's better working with experienced directors
from the get-go. Daldry has had a much longer career in theatre than on
screen, winning Tony and Olivier Awards for his work on Broadway and
West End.
Incidentally,
his next film project is turning the famous Broadway musical – Wicked –
into a feature film of the same name. Most recently, he directed two
episodes of Netflix's British monarchy drama The Crown season 2.

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