Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh’s Canned Star Wars Movie Sounds Awesome

Can you believe it’s been years since a Star Wars movie hit theaters? Ten years ago, we were playing the teaser for *The Force Awakens* on repeat. Six years ago, many of us walked away deflated from *The Rise of Skywalker*.

While a Mandalorian movie is on the horizon, and *Starfighter* starring Ryan Gosling is in the works, actor Adam Driver recently revealed he once pitched a solo Ben Solo movie (apologies to my editor) that had almost everyone excited. Almost.

In a new interview with the Associated Press published on October 20, Adam Driver—while promoting his latest film *Father Mother Sister Brother* with director Jim Jarmusch—shared some details about an unmade Star Wars project he spent two years developing with acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.

### The Hunt for Ben Solo: A Star Wars Movie That Almost Was

Titled *The Hunt for Ben Solo*, the movie would have taken place after *The Rise of Skywalker*. Its story revolved around unfinished business that Kylo Ren had following the end of the sequel trilogy.

“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Driver told the Associated Press. “I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. [President of Lucasfilm] 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 revealed that he approached Steven Soderbergh—his collaborator on the 2017 film *Logan Lucky*—and together, along with Soderbergh’s wife (a screenwriter who goes by the pseudonym Rebecca Blunt), they developed the story and concepts for *The Hunt for Ben Solo*.

After pitching the project to Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, Vice President Cary Beck, and Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni—all of whom warmly received it—Scott Z. Burns (writer of Soderbergh’s prescient disease thriller *Contagion*) came on board to write a script that Driver described as “one of the coolest scripts I had ever been a part of.”

### A Small-Scale, Character-Driven Vision

While Driver didn’t reveal specific plot details, he described the project as being on a smaller scale than any of the trilogy films.

“We wanted to be judicious about how to spend money and be economical with it, and do it for less than most but in the same spirit of what those movies are, which is handmade and character-driven,” he explained.

Driver added he wanted to emulate *The Empire Strikes Back*, which he considers “the standard of what those movies were.” He hoped to pull it off with Soderbergh, calling the director “one of my favorite directors of all time. He lives his code, lives his ethics, doesn’t compromise.”

### The Project’s End and Looking Ahead

Unfortunately, the project’s momentum came to a halt after the team pitched the movie to Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman.

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.”

When reached for comment by the Associated Press, Soderbergh said, “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”

—

These days, Star Wars is struggling to maintain its hold on audiences. While *The Mandalorian* was a big hit on Disney+ and *Andor* has earned critical acclaim as a politically-minded espionage thriller, much of the franchise has floundered in the streaming era.

However, there’s hope the franchise might turn a corner soon. *The Mandalorian* and Grogu are poised to continue their adventures in a theatrical form, and *Starfighter* is set to explore a whole new story in a new corner of the Star Wars universe.

James Mangold is also helming a new Star Wars feature, and Daisy Ridley will return as Rey in a spin-off movie from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Maybe the power of the Force isn’t lost yet—it just needs to be refocused.
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a69107703/adam-driver-kylo-ren-star-wars-ben-solo-movie/

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