Many were shocked to learn that Lucasfilm was quietly developing and then greenlit a new “Star Wars” movie that would have seen Adam Driver return to the role of Ben Solo (aka, Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and General Leia Organa) with “The Hunt For Ben Solo,” being spearheaded creatively by director Steven Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt.
Sadly, the movie was killed by Disney brass (we assume Bob Iger and his executive team) for “story reasons,” and now, after Kathleen Kennedy‘s exit interview (leaving the top job at Lucasfilm), expressing her frustrations about the fate of the film, Soderbergh is again chiming in during a chat with BKMAG and sharing his own perspectives after working on the project for “two years” without getting paid for it.
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“No, it was no surprise that she was frustrated. We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam [Driver], and Rebecca Blunt. When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, ‘Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.’ The stated reason was ‘We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.’ And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on. And as I posted, I’d 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—where they go, what is this going to cost? And I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It’s insane. We’re all very disappointed,” Soderbergh said of his experience, and tried not to editorialize it before Kennedy or others spoke on the subject.
Driver’s Ben Solo had a change of heart in the J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” shaking off his evil persona and seemingly dying during a confrontation with a still-alive Emperor Palpatine (plenty of controversy surrounding the villain’s resurrection). Because this is the “Star Wars” universe (a fantasy film with a sort of sci-fi paint job), there could have been plenty of ways to bring back Ben Solo without annoying audiences.
The pairing of Driver and Soderbergh wasn’t all that surprising, given their previous working relationship on the underrated heist comedy “Logan Lucky,” but the fact that the movie had its plug pulled did certain ruffle a lot of feathers from both movie nerds and “Star Wars” fans alike.
One of the bright lights is that with the exit of both Iger and Kennedy, there seems to be a new window of opportunity with their replacements at Disney/Lucasfilm possibly circling back to “The Hunt for Ben Solo” in the future. Although we’re unsure if that will ultimately happen, as they’re focused on getting “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and “Star Wars: Starfighter” into theaters next, with other possible feature options on the table.
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