One of the most anticipated streaming shows in 2022 comes in the Star Wars universe. The show now has a release date and some were surprised to hear that date, and there’s a big reason why.
What Happened: The upcoming Disney+ show “Obi-Wan Kenobi” will join the streaming platform on May 25, 2022.
The series will follow the popular Jedi Knight 10 years after the events that took place in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”
Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen will be featured in the show from Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) as the iconic Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader characters, respectively.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a central character to the Star Wars universe featured in “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” and the first three chronological movies Episode I, III and III. Kenobi was also featured as a force ghost in Episodes V and Episode VI, and was part of the animated series “The Clone Wars.”
Some were disappointed to hear that “Obi-Wan Kenobi” wouldn’t be released on May 4, 2022, given the significance of this day for fans. May 4 has become a Star Wars holiday as the date can read as May the Fourth and is used as the promotional May the Fourth be with you, a take on the famous “May the force be with you” line from the movie series.
Disney and Star Wars picked May 25 instead, a date that Star Wars fans also celebrate as a holiday.
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Why It’s Important: “Obi-Wan Kenobi” being released on May 25 could be the perfect way to honor the title character and the Star Wars franchise.
The original “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” was released on May 25, 1977. The newest Star Wars show will be released on the 45th anniversary of the original film. The first Star Wars movie went on to gross $461 million domestically and over $775 million globally. The movie has had several re-releases over the years to celebrate the movie and franchise.
“Return of the Jedi” and “Solo” also featured May 25 as their theatrical release date in 1983 and 2018 respectively. Two of the first three movies share the day as their release date, explaining the reason it was chosen by Disney for the release of “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The first six movies in the Star Wars franchise all enjoyed May release dates before the seventh, eighth and ninth movies switched to December releases.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is highly anticipated by Star Wars fans and was named the sixth most anticipated 2022 series by IMDB, a unit of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). The Disney+ series was one of four to make the top ten list from IMBD.
Disney has had recent success with Star Wars shows on its Disney+ streaming platform with “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett.”
Disney+ ended the first quarter with 129.8 million subscribers, up 37% year-over-year. The platform could continue to gain subscribers with new original content from Disney’s key franchises like Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar.
Given two important dates in May with May 4 and May 25, the Star Wars franchise and Disney could choose to double dip in advertising campaigns and consumer products releases.
The company could also choose to bring back “Star Wars: A New Hope” to theaters to celebrate the 45th anniversary and cross-promote “Obi-Wan Kenobi," although this is highly unlikely; Disney often promotes its theatrical release dates a year in advance.
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Photo: Courtesy of Jesse Väisänen on Flickr
