As successful as Disney’s Star Wars movies have been (four of the five released to date grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office), there’s an ever-growing list of proposed projects that never saw the light of day. Many of these were movies Lucasfilm formally announced at one point, only to see them fall apart later for various reasons. Fans recently learned of another unrealized Star Wars movie, a spinoff titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, which would have reunited Adam Driver with his Logan Lucky director Steven Soderbergh. Ironically, it wasn’t creative differences with Lucasfilm that killed this film. Driver shared it was Disney who turned it down, and now Soderbergh has chimed in, revealing The Hunt for Ben Solo made unglamorous Lucasfilm history.
In a post on Bluesky, the director revealed there was a finished script in place for The Hunt for Ben Solo. “I asked Kathy Kennedy if [Lucasfilm] had ever turned in a finished movie script for greenlight to Disney and had it rejected,” Soderbergh wrote. “She said no, this was a first.”
Hot on the trail of that reveal, The Playlist offered more details, including the fact that the project was fully greenlit before Disney pulled the plug; the involvement of Rebecca Blunt; and the fact that writer Scott Z. Burns was paid more than any screenwriter in Lucasfilm history. On top ot that, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck were “directly involved throughout development and were reportedly enthusiastic about the drafts that came in.” And it was only when they presented the project, ready to shoot, with a finalized script, a budget mapped out, and a proposed production start date, that Disney pulled it.
Lucasfilm Has Had Numerous Problems With Star Wars Scripts
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
The Hunt for Ben Solo situation is mind-boggling when considering Lucasfilm’s rather problematic history developing Star Wars scripts. For instance, the studio announced the movie New Jedi Order at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, and the project has cycled through multiple writers since that time. George Nolfi is the latest to take a stab at it, but there’s no guarantee New Jedi Order will ever happen. The film remains undated on Disney’s release schedule as work continues on the screenplay. New Jedi Order is just one example of a Star Wars movie that’s gone nowhere. Kathleen Kennedy is still waiting on a script for Taika Waititi’s film that was announced over five years ago.
Given the enduring popularity of the Star Wars franchise, it’s probably frustrating for the Disney higher-ups to see so many proposed projects fail to come to fruition because of script issues. It’s very ironic, then, that Disney would be the ones to turn down a finished script that Lucasfilm was excited about. The Mouse House decided to scale back on Star Wars movie releases after the mixed reception to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but the hiatus was arguably longer than most fans might have anticipated. There surely could have been room for a new Star Wars film at some point over the last six years.
When explaining why Disney passed on The Hunt for Ben Solo, Driver only said the executives “didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive” after the character’s death at the end of the sequel trilogy. Neither Driver nor Soderbergh have shared any specific story details, so it’s unknown if Disney had any other issues with the concept. If the only hangup was Ben Solo returning from the dead, Disney’s decision is quite bizarre. Fake-out deaths happen all the time in blockbuster franchises, and a smart director like Soderbergh likely included a logical explanation in his script. However he pulled it off, the people in charge of Star Wars were on board with the idea, so it will remain puzzling why Disney didn’t sign off until more information comes to light.
The Star Wars sequel trilogy was divisive, but Ben Solo/Kylo Ren proved to be one of the most popular characters from those films — in large part due to Driver’s compelling performances. Building a standalone movie around the fan favorite would have been an easy sell, especially with a talented director like Soderbergh attached. Throughout his career, he’s helmed numerous crowd pleasers and has even worked within the studio system (Ocean’s Eleven was a big franchise for Warner Bros.), so he would have been an exciting addition to the Star Wars galaxy. Based on reports, Driver’s time with Star Wars is over, but if there’s any real momentum for a “save The Hunt for Ben Solo campaign,” Disney should reconsider its stance.
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