Obi-Wan Kenobi: Director Deborah Chow drew inspiration from two unexpected Westerns

Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres in just one week and the interview rounds are in full effect. As the cast and filmmakers go around the media world touting the latest addition to the Star Wars universe, fans are left wondering what the look and feel of the series is going to be. Director Deborah Chow has previously directed a few episodes of The Mandalorian before landing the job of helming all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but her inspiration for the series goes far deeper than the other movies in the Lucasfilm saga.

During my interview with Chow, I asked her whether she drew inspiration more from the prequels or the sequels for this story set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. She previously mentioned her appreciation for the look and atmosphere of Rogue One and I wondered if that influence this series. Chow interestingly cited two movies I did not expect to anchor a Star Wars story: John Hillcoat’s 2005 western The Proposition (which its star Guy Pearce recently discussed with us) and Andrew Dominik’s 2007 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Both films are beautiful and starkly violent tales about outlaws that differ significantly from traditional westerns. They are both brilliant movies that took decided risks with tone and style.

If Obi-Wan Kenobi can be anywhere close to the quality of either of those movies, we are in for what could be the best Star Wars story in a long, long time. This also means that we all have some weekend watching to do so we can prepare for the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on May 27th on Disney+.

The long journey for this series from the era of the prequels to the announcement it would become a Disney+ original is close to coming to an end. My full interview with Deborah Chow will be up on this site next week along with more coverage from Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim next week. Stay tuned!