Fan-made Star Wars trailer taps Ewan McGregor's Jesus

Last Days in the Desert is out on video now, so it was probably only a matter of time before some enterprising Star Wars fan took the footage of Ewan McGregor sitting in the desert and turned it into a “trailer” for a film about the time Obi-Wan Kenobi spent on Tatooine between Episodes III and IV of the space-opera saga.

Here is the fan video in question:

[vimeo 178941014 w=500 h=211]

To the best of my recollection, the McGregor footage here is all taken from the scenes in which he played Jesus, but some (maybe all?) of the McGregor voice-over is taken from the scenes in which he played Satan — which is interesting, considering that the original Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) was regarded as a Christ-figure by many people (because he was betrayed by a former disciple, his robes were empty after he died, and his spirit lived on, etc.), but the prequels that McGregor starred in made Obi-Wan and the Jedi as a whole look a lot more complicated, morally.

I do like what Rob Dean had to say about this at the A.V. Club:

Yes, the Qui-Gon Jinn Force ghost is a bit wonky. But everything else about this is incredibly appealing. The idea of a quiet, thoughtful character study of a man without a country trying to make do in a savage land while battling his own inner demons and guilt? That would be a big departure from the (presumed) action-packed space operatics of Rogue One and the other spin-off films, and it could be incredibly rewarding. Ewan McGregor has proven (in Last Days In The Desert, among other films) to be able to carry such a weight on his shoulders and convey these mixed emotions, so it would be interesting to see him flex his dramatic muscles and give Obi-Wan some much-needed depth. Basically, it looks like Gerry but with space ghosts and rocket ships, which isn’t the worst-sounding thing either.

So here’s a thought: If Star Wars doesn’t always have to be about blockbuster movies — if it can include, and count as canonical, the various TV shows that Lucasfilm still produces — then how about some low-budget movies that expand the Star Wars universe in these other ways? They’d probably be profitable, at least. And they could generate all sorts of goodwill among fans and filmmakers alike. Just a thought.

Meanwhile, check out my post on Star Wars actors who have been in Bible films.

Check out earlier Last Days in the Desert trailers and other videos here: