“Star Wars” fans are not happy with Disney after Adam Driver revealed studio executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman rejected a screenplay for a standalone movie centered on Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, the character Driver played to much adoration from critics and fans in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi” and “The Rise of Skywalker.” The script was titled “The Hunt for Ben Solo.”
As reported by Collider, a group of “Star Wars” fans paid for a plane to fly a banner reading “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. A reporter for the website was on location for the viral stunt and took photos of the banner flying overhead.
Driver revealed to the Associated Press in an interview published Oct. 20 that he spent two years developing a standalone “Star Wars” movie centered on Ben Solo alongside director Steven Soderbergh. The film would have taken place after the events of “The Rise of Skywalker.” According to Driver, Soderbergh worked on the script with his “Logan Lucky” scribe Rebecca Blunt and longtime collaborator Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion,” “The Informant!”). Driver starred in Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky” and Burns’ “The Report.”
“I always was interested in doing another ‘Star Wars,’” Driver told the AP. “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.”
Driver loved “The Hunt for Ben Solo” script, calling it the “standard” of what a “Star Wars” movie “should be” and comparing it to the “handmade and character-driven” feel of “The Empire Strikes Back.” The Oscar nominee said Lucasfilm execs Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni and Cary Beck backed the project until Disney shut it down.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea,” Driver recalled. “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.”
Driver’s interview sent “Star Wars” fans into a tizzy, not only because Ben Solo is a fan favorite character but also because the “Star Wars” movie franchise has floundered over the years since “The Rise of Skywalker” with many features stalled, delayed or scrapped.
“I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it,” Soderbergh told the AP about “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” with Driver adding that it was “one of the coolest scripts I had ever been a part of.”
The “Star Wars” franchise finally returns to the big screen next year with the release of “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” a big screen continuation of the popular Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” that hits theaters May 22. Another “Star Wars” movie, the Shawn Levy-directed “Starfighter” with Ryan Gosling, is now in production and aiming for a May 28, 2027 release date.
