{"id":434522,"date":"2026-02-19T17:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434522\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:07:08","slug":"steven-soderbergh-frustrated-at-the-hunt-for-ben-solo-axe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/434522\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Soderbergh \u2018Frustrated\u2019 At The Hunt For Ben Solo Axe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since Adam Driver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/movies\/news\/adam-driver-reveals-cancelled-plans-for-steven-soderbergh-star-wars-movie-the-hunt-for-ben-solo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">first spoke about The Hunt For Ben Solo<\/a> \u2013 the axed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/movies\/features\/star-wars-timeline-chronological-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Star Wars<\/a> film he spent years developing with Steven Soderbergh, supposedly supported within Lucasfilm before being swatted down by Disney\u2019s own CEO \u2013 fans have been on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/movies\/features\/star-wars-hunt-for-ben-solo-sequel-revival\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the hunt for The Hunt For Ben Solo<\/a>. After all, death is not always the end in Star Wars, and given the sheer amount of development undertaken on the project, there are still hopes that the project could be resurrected.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Steven Soderbergh has reiterated in an interview his feelings around the film\u2019s cancellation, particularly given how far along the line the project got \u2013 a sentiment echoed by outgoing Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy in <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/01\/kathleen-kennedy-exit-interview-1236665253\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">an exit interview with Deadline<\/a>. \u201cIt was no surprise that [Kathleen] was frustrated. We were all frustrated,\u201d Soderbergh told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bkmag.com\/2026\/02\/17\/steven-soderbergh-nitehawk-brooklyn-film-series-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">BK Mag<\/a>. \u201cThat was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt [writer]. When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, \u2018Look, do not editorialise or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.\u2019 The stated reason was, \u2018We don\u2019t think Ben Solo could be alive.\u2019 And that was all we were told. And so there\u2019s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Per Soderbergh\u2019s account, those involved with the film expected the final conversations \u2013 in which the film was ultimately cancelled \u2013 to merely be a formality ahead of pre-production beginning. \u201cI\u2019d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. I thought the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one\u2014where they go, what is this going to cost?\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It\u2019s insane. We\u2019re all very disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the question remains: is The Hunt For Ben Solo really gone? Are Soderbergh and Driver publicising the film\u2019s near-existence in the hope that fan clamouring brings it back to life? Or will it remain a lost mystery of The Force? Stay tuned to see if a new Disney CEO, Josh D\u2019Amaro, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/movies\/news\/kathleen-kennedy-steps-down-at-lucasfilm-as-dave-filoni-lynwen-brennan-become-new-star-wars-bosses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the new leadership at Lucasfilm<\/a>, co-CEOs Dave Filoni and Lynne Brennan, can find a new spark in the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever since Adam Driver first spoke about The Hunt For Ben Solo \u2013 the axed Star Wars film&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-434522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}