Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi movie is reportedly facing a race to the start line.
This past weekend, Belfast Telegraph caught wind that HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series (working title: The Long Night) had been given the go-ahead for an October start in the Northern Ireland capital – proving that, yes, there’s still life for Westeros beyond 2019.
There is one potential hitch, though: the outlet also mentions the fact that HBO’s successor series – the first of four potential spinoffs based on Thrones – will begin filming after Obi-Wan, so the Lucasfilm project will really need to get its skates on if it’s to keep hold of that April start date (and possible 2020 release window, too). Otherwise, it may face a possible delay while it waits for the fantasy series to finish up.
Then again, there’ve been many conflicting reports swirling around the Obi-Wan Kenobi offshoot over the last few months. For one, despite rumors that George Lucas visited Belfast in order to scout for locations, it’s since been confirmed that the Star Wars creator was simply visiting the city’s Paint Hall Studio.
Our advice? Approach this latest report with heightened caution. Not only is it recycled from an old Star Wars story from back in February, but there’s also the very real concern that Lucasfilm has pumped the brakes on all its standalone movies for the foreseeable future – something that will, if true, have a ripple effect on James Mangold’s Boba Fett pic, too.
One way or another, we’ll be bringing you all the latest from the Star Wars front as we approach the launch of Episode IX in 2019.