Kathleen Kennedy on Daisy Ridley's New STAR WARS Movie, Rian Johnson's Project, and OBI-WAN KENOBI Season 2
Many major announcements were made this past weekend at Star Wars Celebration in London, and in the wake of the excitement, Variety caught up with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who weighed in on several of the goings on in the Star Wars Universe.
When asked about the new movie featuring Daisy Ridley’s Rey, Kennedy said she called Ridley about showing up to the event, saying:
“It was a pretty straightforward phone call. I started out by just saying, ‘Hey, I think we’re getting near being ready.’ We’ve been talking a lot about what we’re doing in the movie space and I said, ‘I think we’re getting close to being ready. How would you like to go to Celebration?’ That was really the beginning of it. She was out of her mind excited.”
She went on to offer an update on the future of a Rian Johnson-directed project, saying:
“Rian and I talk all the time. He is unbelievably busy. So we’re not actively involved in anything at the moment because he’s doing another one of the ‘Glass Onion’ movies and then God knows what else. But he really wants to step back into the space. It’s a big commitment of time, so that’s really on him.”
Taika Waititi is also working on a standalone film in the Star Wars universe. Kennedy gave an update on that as well.
“Taika is still working away. He’s writing the script himself. He doesn’t really want to bring others into that process and I don’t blame him. He has a very, very unique voice. So we want to protect that and that’s what he’s doing. But we’re going to make that one day.”
Kennedy also fielded an inquiry about a potential second season of the series Obi-Wan Kenobi at Disney+, as some fans have pushed for a follow-up adventure for Ewan McGregor’s iconic Jedi.
“That is not an active development. But I never say never, because there’s always the possibility. That show was so well-received and [director] Deborah Chow did such a spectacular job. Ewan McGregor really wants to do another. Everybody’s all hands on deck with what we’re doing right now, as you can see by what we showed everybody [at the Celebration]. We’ll turn our attention to that again maybe down the road.”
What do you think about all of these updates and comments?