Axed ‘The Hunt For Ben Solo’ Star Wars Film Not Completely Off The Table: “Anything’s A Possibility If Somebody’s Willing To Take A Risk”
Despite its development having been shut down on the direct orders of Disney’s top brass, now-former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy suggests the abandoned, Kylo Ren-centric The Hunt for Ben Solo film may yet have a chance of being officially greenlit.
Its overall existence revealed by its inevitable lead Adam Driver during an October 2025 interview with the Associated Press, The Hunt for Ben Solo was set to pick up in the aftermath of The Rise of Skywalker and would have seen the Skywalker descendant being revived from the dead through-as-of-yet-unrevealed means in order to take tie up some loose ends before finally joining the Force for good.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars. I had been talking about doing another one since 2021,” explained Driver. “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.
Praising it as “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of,” the Kylo Ren actor then turned to discuss its eventual scrapping, which he said came at the direct hands of Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and Walt Disney Studios CEO Alan Bergman.
“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 Bob Iger and 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.”
“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. But [Soderbergh] is, to me, one of my favorite directors of all time. He lives his code, lives his ethics, doesn’t compromise.”
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.”
Given both Driver and Soderbergh’s well-earned reputations and known commitments to their respective crafts, the revelation that Disney had shut down an exploration on one of their few widely-liked Star Wars creations was unsurprisingly met with disappointment from fans, some of whom have since gone on to launch a full on #SaveBenSolo campaign.
And it is in the wake of such vocal fan support that Kennedy has confirmed that, truly, “no one’s ever really gone“.
Speaking with Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. in the wake of her stepping down as Lucasfilm president, the 14-year studio head was asked if she could provide a final update as to the current state of various Star Wars projects at the time of her exit, to which Kennedy happily but cautiously obliged:
“I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here. Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold. Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script.”
To the surprise of many, it was here that Kennedy made mention of The Hunt for Ben Solo, telling her host, “And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
Interestingly, Kennedy followed up this reveal with an apparent criticism of Disney’s current operations, which she felt cared more about increasing stock value than fostering actual creativity:
“I remember when I came into this job, the first thing Bob Iger said to me was, “Be bold.” I’ve always liked that because I think you have to be bold and you have to be willing to take risks with people and with ideas. Otherwise you are just doing the same thing. Right now we’re in an era where companies are so risk-averse, and I get it. I hear all the conversations. They’ve got Wall Street to please, and I get it, but I also believe that that’s what contributes to things disappearing, ultimately. I just think you have to take those chances.
“Everything I just reeled off to you is taking a bit of a chance because none of those filmmakers are just walking in trying to do same old, same old,” she concluded. “I’m excited by that, but the studio’s nervous about that, and that’s kind of where it sits at the moment.”
