Disney nixed a Ben Solo “Star Wars” movie that was to be directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Adam Driver.
“I always was interested in doing another ‘Star Wars,’” Driver, who starred as Kylo Ren in the trilogy kicked off by “The Force Awakens,” told the Associated Press. “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.”
Driver added that he took the concept to Soderbergh for a film that would take place after 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt came up with an outline for the story that the group then pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Carrie Beck and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni.
They were interested, so Scott Z. Burns was tapped to write the script. Driver said it was “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be because Disney Chief Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman passed.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver said. “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.”
“It was called ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ and it was really cool,” Driver added. “But it is no more, so I can finally talk about it.”
“I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it,” Soderbergh said in a statement.
