For a company that once greenlit an entire series about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney has become rather picky about its Star Wars projects. While many of its canceled movies could be chalked up to avoiding more Rise Of Skywalker-sized rakes, few of these unmade projects feel like missed opportunities. However, in a new interview with the Associated Press, Adam Driver introduced us to an unmade Star Wars project we’ll be thinking about for many, many years to come. Following the sequel trilogy, Driver pitched Disney a Ben Solo movie directed by Stephen Soderbergh. Alas, despite Soderbergh directing and a script by Scott Z. Burns, The Hunt For Ben Solo was never meant to be, namely because Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chair Alan Bergman couldn’t wrap their heads around Ben Solo surviving the last movie.
Surprisingly, Driver has “always been interested in doing another Star Wars” and has been talking about returning to the series since 2021. “With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second,” he says. “I loved that character and loved playing him.” He made good on that promise, bringing in his Logan Lucky director, Stephen Soderbergh, and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, to work on the Ben Solo Star Wars story. It was, in Driver’s opinion, “one of the coolest fucking scripts I had ever been a part of.” “We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver says. “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.”
Reached for comment by AP, Soderbergh says, “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.” But the more Driver describes it, the more we want to see the movie in his head. “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,” Driver says. “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.”
Now, try as we might, six years later, the only thing we remember about Rise Of Skywalker is still Babu Frick. (Frankly, we’re surprised Iger could remember how that movie ended.) Using the Force (read: YouTube) to rewatch it, it seems that Kylo Ren uses the last remnants of his powers to resurrect Rey before stealing a kiss, dying, and becoming a Force ghost. Oh, we see how it is, Palpatine can return somehow, but not Ben Solo. Anyway, The Mandalorian And Grogu hits theaters next year, followed by Shawn Levy’s Starfighter.
