After the commercial disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story, all future Lucasfilm spinoffs were reportedly put on ice. This was since confirmed to be the case with the Boba Fett film, and most of us have long assumed it to be true for the Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone flick, too. Nonetheless, in a weird turn of events, we’re now hearing a report to the contrary from the most unlikely of sources.
Former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivered a speech at the DUP conference in Northern Ireland over the weekend, where the politician made an unexpected reference to upcoming plans for a certain space saga:
“Which was the biggest grossing movie last year? Star Wars, and where does George Lucas propose to make a follow up about Obi-Wan Kenobi? Northern Ireland.”
Okay, so this gives us a lot to process. First of all, it was indeed reported earlier this year that an Obi-Wan film was set to begin production in Belfast in 2019, and that George Lucas himself was scouting locations in the region. Since then, however, a lot has changed, with actor Ewan McGregor even saying a few months ago that there are no plans for such a project anymore.
It therefore seems possible that Johnson is just speaking from outdated info here, seeing how he’s neither an industry insider nor, as far as we can tell, a particularly avid follower of Star Wars news. As for the George Lucas part, some fans have offered the alternative suggestion that perhaps Johnson is unaware that the filmmaker is no longer involved with Lucasfilm, despite the company still bearing his name.
In other words, let’s not start freaking out quite yet, at least not until we get some further evidence or a second source on the matter. But if this Obi-Wan Kenobi movie is indeed still on course for release and Lucas is somehow involved, then this sounds like a project that even The Last Jedi‘s most passionate detractors can get on board with.