EWAN MCGREGOR SAYS STAR WARS SERIES STILL IN THE WORKS: Ewan McGregor is addressing recent reports that have claimed his Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+ is dead in the water. He and director Deborah Chow are countering the reports, and saying the series has just been “pushed back” over scripts. “It’s not been put on hold, it’s just been pushed back a little bit. The scripts are excellent and they just want them to be better,” he told the Associated Press. “So we just pushed it back, but it’s not — it very dramatic, it would seem, online, there’s all kinds of s— online about it, but it’s only just slid back a bit. We’re still shooting it, I think it will still be aired when it was meant to be and I’m really excited about it. It’ll be fun to play again.”
SEE IRRESISTIBLE: Steve Carell and Rose Byrne are facing off in Jon Stewart‘s political comedy, Irresistible. Fans got their first glimpse of Carell as a Democratic political consultant attempting to help a retired Marine (Chris Cooper) run for mayor against a GOP rival (Byrne). The film drops May 29th from Focus Features.
FEMALE DIRECTORS CALL ON DGA TO IMPROVE BENEFITS: More than 50 female directors and actors including Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Olivia Wilde, Reed Morano, Brie Larson, Jill Soloway, Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon are calling on the Directors Guild of America to change rules so parents can take more time to be with their kids and meet required income minimums. The letter reads, in part: “New mothers should be afforded additional time to make their yearly minimum in the year that they give birth. This provides new parents the opportunity to take the time they need to physically care for their child as well as recover and recuperate. Women will return to their work better equipped to handle the challenges of balancing parenting and work and better equipped to delve into their future projects. This should apply for adoptive parents as well.”
BBC & PBS RIG WATERHOLE: The BBC and PBS are teaming up on a wildlife show in Tanzania. In a bid for serious action in the wildlife show, they are building a waterhole in Tanzania’s Mwiba Wildlife Reserve so they can capture the action. It will be the first drinking pool in the world rigged with TV cameras. Chris Packham and Ella Al-Shamahi will host the three-part series.