Disney Shot Down Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh’s Kylo Ren Sequel ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’
Adam Driver, director Steven Soderbergh and writers developed a follow-up Star Wars movie centered on Ben Solo, but Disney executives declined to move forward with the project, according to Driver’s interview with AP. The film had a working title and a completed draft, yet it stopped after being shown to Disney leadership.
What was proposed
Driver and Soderbergh planned a film set after 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker that would continue Ben Solo’s story. The project was titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, and the team developed an outline and a script draft.
In fact, Driver said: “I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. Kathleen (Kennedy) had reached out. I always said: With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second. I loved that character and loved playing him.” Moreover, Driver called the script “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
Who was involved
The main creative figures on the project were:
- Adam Driver — attached to return and helped develop the idea.
- Steven Soderbergh — worked with Driver on the concept and supported the project.
- Rebecca Blunt — credited as a screenwriter on the initial outline.
- Scott Z. Burns — brought in by Lucasfilm to write a script.
- Kathleen Kennedy, Cary Beck, and Dave Filoni — Lucasfilm executives who reviewed the idea and showed interest.
Why Disney declined
The creative team presented the idea to Lucasfilm leaders first, and then to Disney executives. Driver said that when they took the project to Disney, Bob Iger and Alan Bergman reviewed it and rejected it.
Driver told the AP: “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that,”
Additionally, Soderbergh issued a brief statement about the project: “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
Current status
As of Driver’s comments to AP, the film is not moving forward. Lucasfilm did review the pitch and the script, but Disney’s leadership declined to greenlight the project. Therefore, the planned movie is effectively canceled and the creative team has stopped pursuing it through Disney.
What remains public
Concrete facts established by the reporting are these: the idea existed, a script draft was written, Lucasfilm executives saw it and were interested, and Disney executives ultimately rejected it. That is the status as reported by Driver and Soderbergh.
