Director Steven Soderbergh has a disappointing update for “Star Wars” fans hoping to see Adam Pilote reprises his role as Ben Solo in a future film. Villain Kylo Ren, who first appeared in 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” was later redeemed in 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker,” which was also the last “Star Wars” film released in theaters. Although Ben Solo apparently died at the end of the sequel trilogy, Driver and Soderbergh came up with the idea to continue Ben’s story. Unfortunately, Disney’s top executives did not do so, leading to the film’s cancellation. Despite a major fan campaign to get the film back on track, especially with changes in management at Lucasfilm and Disney, Soderbergh revealed that the film was “finished” and that he had moved on to other projects.
Disney’s management change won’t help Ben Solo’s future
In January, Kathleen Kennedy resigned as president of Lucasfilm and was replaced by Dave Filoni And Lynwen Brennan. Two months later, Josh D’Amaro officially successful Bob Iger as CEO of Disney. With so many changes in direction, “Star Wars” fans were hoping that the Ben Solo movie, tentatively dubbed “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” would finally come to fruition.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case. While promoting his upcoming film “The Christophers,” director Steven Soderbergh told The Playlist that the film was dead, saying, “Look, if it was going to happen, it would have happened. »
“It’s that simple,” he added, clearly answering “No” when asked if he would ever return to the project.
“Andor” had nothing to do with the Ben Solo movie
Soderbergh was also asked about a fan rumor suggesting that Tony Gilroy’s hit Disney+ series “Andor” sparked the idea of bringing Ben Solo back to life. Soderbergh dismissed that idea, saying that conversations with Driver actually began before “Andor” premiered.
“Well, I don’t mean [it had no influence]”Because it makes it seem like, you know, ‘I watched ‘Andor’ and it had absolutely no impact on me,’ which is not true, it was great,” he explained. “But it was [all] before the broadcast of “Andor”. Adam and I started talking, and it should have been almost three years ago now.
Steven Soderbergh doesn’t regret his work on his abandoned ‘Star Wars’ film
Soderbergh still considers the project a valuable creative exercise, even if it is no longer moving forward.
“I don’t regret a single minute of the time we spent working on this,” he said. “I thought the work was good. It’s just good for you to be in that room and working there. It’s like CrossFit: It’s good for you. It will have a residual effect that will be unexpected at some point.”
Instead of dwelling on regrets, it seems Soderbergh is taking a cue from Kylo Ren’s book and is ready to “let the past die” and move on to other projects.
“As soon as it became obvious, OK, that wasn’t going to happen, I sat down and started writing [something else]”, Soderbergh said. “It’s like, ‘OK, new scenario, let’s start cracking.'” At some point, it’s like complaining about the weather. You just have to keep moving forward.
Steven Soderbergh Reveals Ben Solo Movie Was Adam Driver’s Idea
In the interview, Soderbergh revealed that the idea to revisit the Ben Solo character actually came from the “Marriage Story” actor himself.
“It was strictly Adam saying, ‘I think there’s still something to be done with this character.’ That’s how it all started,” Soderbergh revealed. “Otherwise, I would never have found myself in this universe in a million years.”
Adam Driver first revealed the film’s existence in October 2025
In October 2025, Adam Driver first revealed the existence of “The Hunt for Ben Solo” during a conversation with AP News while promoting his film “Father Mother Sister Brother.”
Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt told a story that the group then presented to Kennedy, Filoni and Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck. After gaining their approval, Scott Z. Burns wrote the screenplay.
“We pitched the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver said. “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 it.”
