There was a time Lucasfilm had plans for an entire slate of Star Wars movies, all of which were set to fall under the "A Star Wars Story" banner. Boba Fett and Yoda projects were in development, as was an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie that, like The Book of Boba Fett, is now a Disney+ TV series.
This week, we learned that writer Stuart Beattie had plotted out an entire trilogy revolving around the Jedi Master. Now, he's revealed the truth behind the movie being scrapped during an interview with The Direct (via SFFGazette.com).
"I spent like a year-and-a-half working on it. And then, when the decision was made not to make any more spin-off films after Solo came out, I left the project and went on to other things."
"It just was dying to be done. You know, unfortunately, Solo changed the direction of the system. I like Solo, personally, but it hadn't made a lot of money," the writer explained. "It is crazy in some ways to think about it how it [was directed by] of the best filmmakers working today. But, just because it didn't hit a certain number, they just had to rethink. And, again, way above my paygrade, but it certainly crushed us. Devastated, absolutely devastated."
We've suspected this might be the case for a while now, and there have been various reports that Solo: A Star Wars Story's disappointing box office performance led to Disney pushing Lucasfilm to change course. For many, that movie proved focusing on legacy characters without the original actors wouldn't work, hence why even Disney+'s Lando now appears to have fallen by the wayside.
For what it's worth, there are no sour grapes on Beattie's part as he'd go on to say, "I'm glad it got made. I'm glad the show got made. I'm proud of my story that [got] told. I'm glad my characters are all through it. And I'm glad I got credit for it. I wish they'd been able to make my movies." He'd also note that "Ewan was on board" with his ideas before plans changed.
Honestly, Obi-Wan Kenobi worked perfectly as a six-part TV series and there's already chatter online that we might eventually get a second season telling more of Ben's story.
Whether that's actually going to happen is up in the air right now, but it will be interesting to see if the show's success prompts Lucasfilm to bring back other characters they can continue telling stories with (we'd be shocked if Yoda, for example, doesn't show up in one of those High Republic stories like The Acolyte).
Are you happy with Obi-Wan Kenobi being a TV show instead of a movie?