Steven Soderbergh Reveals Disney Scrapped 'The Hunt For Ben Solo' Movie Without Even Discussing Cost: "It's Insane"
Steven Soderbergh revealed new details regarding Disney’s rejection of his The Hunt For Ben Solo movie that would have seen Adam Driver reprise his role.
It was revealed back in October 2025 that Soderbergh was developing the film alongside Rebecca Blunt, Scott Z. Burns, and Adam Driver.
Driver informed the Associated Press, “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.”
After Burns completed his script it was presented to Lucasfilm brass who approved of it. “We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver said. In fact, he described the script as “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.”
However, after it was presented to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman it was promptly scrapped. “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 shared.
He then revealed the film’s name, “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.”
Soderbergh would add in a post to BlueSky, “Also, in the aftermath of the HFBS situation, I asked Kathy Kennedy if LFL had ever turned in a finished movie script for greenlight to Disney and had it rejected. She said no, this was a first.”
In January, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy addressed the film telling Deadline in her exit interview, “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.”
She added that it was “on the back burner.”
Now, in an interview with BKMAG, Soderbergh shared that he and the team were frustrated over the film being scrapped, “We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt.”
Next, he reiterated the explanation he received for the film being scrapped, “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.”
In fact, he thought he was going to be able to meet with Disney brass about the film, but it never happened, “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.”
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These people really have no idea the damage they caused the Star Wars brand. Bob Iger may be ideologically captured and a money man with no eye for creative talent, but he's not brain dead.
No further Star Wars movies were ever going to be greenlit if they involved KK and the sequel universe. It's why Lucasfilm has been spinning its wheels for almost 7 years with project after project announced, but never going anywhere.
It's a poisoned well that only a nimrod would drink from as they tell themselves how awesome the strychnine tastes.
How many Marvel movies and live action remakes were made in that time? More than a dozen total I imagine. And not ONE Star Wars movie.
Huh, funny that.
I don't think it's possible to overstate how FUBARed this situation is. A major reason the Writer's Guild EXISTS is to prevent this sort of thing.
- Two Guild-signatory screenwriters worked on a script for two and a half years.
- The script was centered on a studio-owned IP.
- They did it with the knowledge and consent of someone in the studio who had the right to do so.
- THEY WERE NOT PAID FOR WORKING ON STUDIO-OWNED IP FOR OVER TWO YEARS.
That violates maybe every agreement the WGA and the studios have ever had. It's probably also illegal by California law, but I'd have to double check that. You cannot work on studio-owned IP "on spec" (i.e., "on speculation" that you might get paid). Soderbergh and Scott Burns should have known better and said something to the Guild, but Disney damn well knows better and should be sued to the skies.