Ewan McGregor hasn't been shy about his desire to do more on the big screen as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now that the Star Wars franchise is back in a big way and producing non-saga movies, the door seems wide open for the project to happen, and the actor has expressed thoughts on exactly what he would want it to be about. Clearly he's more than game to re-enter that world as an actor -- but now that he's made his directorial debut with American Pastoral, we imagined another possibility: could Ewan McGregor actually helm an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie himself?
I had this query in mind when I sat down to talk with the actor-cum-director at the Los Angeles press day for American Pastoral last week. After discussing how he chose what project he would make as his directorial debut as well as directing himself as an actor, I asked Ewan McGregor what he thought of the idea of actually making the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie himself. It turns out that it was the first time that anybody had put the possibility in his mind, and it surprised the hell out of him:
Oh my god, I never thought of that! Well, there you go! I don't know. I literally never thought of that before. I've always said when people ask me about it, that I'd be up for doing it, of course. I'd like to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again, and I've always thought there's got to be a great story between the last one I made [Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith] and Alec Guinness' one here. So I've always said that I'd be up for that, but you're the first person to suggest that I might direct it! Just have a word with Disney.
In this day and age, it certainly wouldn't be revolutionary for a filmmaker who has never made a blockbuster be hired for a major one. Just within the last few years we've seen filmmakers like Joe and Anthony Russo, Marc Webb, Colin Trevorrow, James Gunn and Gareth Edwards get a crack at blockbuster action -- and the results have been surprisingly good on the whole. Ewan McGregor certainly made it sound like he would be game for the task of making an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, but we'll have to wait and see if that could actually happen.
You can watch Ewan McGregor's humorous response to my question in the video below:
You can be sure that we'll have more news for you about the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie as it (potentially) develops, and in the meantime Ewan McGregor's American Pastoral will be available in limited release starting this Friday, October 21st.
