NEW UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM

Lucasfilm has greenlit an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie to take place in some time period set in the Star Wars universe.

What we do know is that Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry is in talks to lead the stand-alone story according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What we don’t know yet is when in the saga that it will take place.  All betting money appears to be the time period between the end of Revenge of the Sith and the start of A New Hope.  There’s been some speculation that the film could be set in the years when Kenobi trains to become a Jedi Knight.  Given that the Old Republic was at peace in this time period, it would make zero sense.  A Star Wars movie needs both action and conflict.  A movie set during the period in which Kenobi is just starting his training would not be an ideal fit for the saga.

The Clone Wars might seem like a great idea in theory but this era has already been explored in the animated series that previously aired.  That being said, Attack of the Clones came out in 2002 and Revenge of the Sith followed in 2005.  A Clone Wars movie would likely amean that Anakin Skywalker would return.  Nevermind how many people complained about Hayden Christensen’s acting in the two movies because it’s been 15 years since the earlier film was released.  A lot of money would be spent on visual effects to make Ewan McGregor look younger.

Ewan McGregor is now 46 years old and twelve years have passed since the release of Revenge of the Sith.  Sir Alec Guiness was around 61 years old when he started filming A New Hope.  The character, Obi-Wan Kenobi, is said to have been born 57 years before the Battle of Yavin 4.   Exploring the time period in between the two films makes the best sense as the Empire is on the rise.

McGregor is not shy about wanting to do a movie in between the two films.  Speaking during an interview at the  the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2015, the actor said:

“I’ll say it publicly, here, now. I’d be happy to do the story between Episode 3, that I finished in, and Episode 4 that Alec Guinness started in. I think that would be good. Disney should definitely do that.”

Talking to Collider in March 2016, McGregor was still wanting to reprise the role on screen.

“I’d very much like to do one too. I think the story between Episode III and Episode IV, I think there’s a story there. I think that’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, if there is one. The one that bridges my Obi-Wan Kenobi and Alec’s Obi-Wan Kenobi because there’s a—I don’t know how long he’s in the desert there, but it’s got to be twenty or thirty years.”

McGregor was also asked if he met with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy.

I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say, really, but I’m very interested in doing that. That would be great. Maybe there’s even a trilogy! (laughs)

At the time of the Collider interview, McGregor had zero interest in appearing in the current series of films as a Force ghost saying that he’d be Alec Guiness and it would be weird because as far as we know, Luke Skywalker as never seen Kenobi as a younger person.  McGregor, to his credit, wasn’t openly campaigning but responding to interview questions as Collider notes in April 2016.

“If they asked me to, I would be happy to. But it looks like I am campaigning for it, just because I get asked about it, all the time. So, I would like it to be known that I don’t bring it up, at these interviews, of my own free will. I only respond to questions I’m asked to. I don’t know anything about it. They’ve never approached me about it.”

Update on May 17, 2018: There’s new news to report! IndieWire reports that Disney is considering a Lando Calrissian spin-off film while picking up the newest TMZ report of the Kenobi update.  The film is tentatively titled, Obi-Wan: A Star Wars Story.  The Obi-Wan film will be set on Tattooine where Kenobi still lives in exile and keeping an eye on Luke Skywalker.  The major conflict will arise with the tension between the Sand People and Tatooine farmers.