‘Star Wars’ Lead Adam Driver Was Working On A Kylo Ren Solo Film, But Disney Said ‘No’: “One Of The Coolest F***ing Scripts I Had Ever Been A Part Of”
In yet further proof that Disney has absolutely no idea what they’re doing when it comes to Star Wars, sequel trilogy star Adam Driver has revealed that though he once and Lucasfilm were once ready to go on a particularly exciting Kylo Ren solo film, the idea was ultimately and definitively snuffed out by the House of Mouse’s leadership.
Driver offered this bit of Star Wars trivia while speaking with the Associated Press’ Jake Coyle as part of the press tour for director Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming Father Mother Sister Brother, an anthology film whose three entries all center around siblings reuniting in the wake of their parents death and in which he stars in one segment opposite The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik.
At one point reflecting on his recent filmography, the actor explained that the reason he gravitates towards roles offered by such auteur directors like Jarmusch, Francis Ford Coppola on Megalopolis, or Michael Mann on Ferrari was because “They’re seemingly few and far between and are making films that feel like they were directed by a person.”
To this end, Driver then recalled how Hollywood’s current obsession with producing ‘safe and easy’ franchise products over anything even remotely experimental or off-beat even affected his chance at expanding upon Kylo Ren’s character.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars. 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.
From there, he told Coyle, he worked with director Steven Soderbergh, who he had previously collaborated with on Logan Lucky, and his wife Rebecca Blunt to outline the story, the trio then tapped filmmaker Scott Z. Burns, his own relationship with Driver coming by way of his lead casting in his 2017 film The Report, to pen a treatment – which the actor described as “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
Unfortunately, Disney did not agree.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it. We took it to [Walt Disney Company CEO] Bob Iger and [Walt Disney Studios CEO] 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. But it is no more, so I can finally talk about it.”
Closing out his tease of the Kylo Ren film that never was, Driver ultimately admitted that the decision not to move forward left him truly baffled, as “We wanted to be judicial 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.”
“Empire Strikes Back being, in my opinion, the standard of what those movies were,” he explained. “But [Soderbergh] is, to me, one of my favorite directors of all time. He lives his code, lives his ethics, doesn’t compromise.”
“Watching filmmakers not get the money they need is frustrating. I don’t think I’m a value add. But I’m always down for the cause because I love those filmmakers and their films. I’d rather do a Michael Mann anything.”
Pressed for comment by the AP, Soderbergh himself asserted, “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
At current, Driver’s next film appearance, the aforementioned Father Mother Sister Brother, is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on December 24th.
