Let’s pause for a minute, and just ponder what a Steven Soderbergh-directed Star Wars movie would look like.
In a new interview with the AP, Adam Driver confesses he spent two years developing a Star Wars project with Soderbergh. The project, titled “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” would have followed the redemption and survival of his Kylo Ren character after the events of ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’
I always was interested in doing another Star Wars. Kathleen [Kennedy] had reached out, and I told her — with a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second. I loved that character.
That “great director” turned out to be Soderbergh. The two, along with talented screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, built a concept that intrigued Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy. By all accounts, Lucasfilm loved the idea and was ready to greenlight.
Then the pitch went to Disney. Bob Iger and Alan Bergman reportedly shut it down. Their reasoning? They “didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive.” And just like that, one of the most fascinating creative pairings imaginable for a Star Wars movie was gone — another casualty of corporate risk aversion.
Driver called the finished script “one of the coolest f*cking scripts I had ever been a part of.” Soderbergh himself confirmed his involvement: “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
It all makes sense now.
Back in January, Soderbergh released his annual list of everything he watched, read, and listened to over the past year — and sharp-eyed fans noticed a curious trend: a whole lot of Star Wars. His 2024 list featured multiple entries from the franchise, including ‘The Phantom Menace,’ “Andor,” and ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ alongside his usual mix of classics and deep cuts.
At the time, IndieWire even speculated that Soderbergh’s sudden Star Wars binge might hint at a secret project for the franchise. Turns out, they were right. If he was deep in a Star Wars rewatch throughout 2024, that means his Kylo Ren project — “The Hunt for Ben Solo” — was likely still very much alive during that period.
Honestly, for all the complaints I give to IP moviemaking, a Soderbergh-directed Star Wars movie could have worked. This is the filmmaker who redefined genre with “Traffic,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Out of Sight,” and “The Limey.” He’s always balanced studio fare with indies — he could have injected some real soul into Disney’s billion-dollar machine.
Since ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ in 2019, Disney’s Star Wars output has been stuck in creative limbo. Announcements come and go. On TV, ‘Andor’ proved that grounded, director-driven storytelling can work in this universe. Yet on the film side, the company seems to totally freak out whenever real opportunity hits. The result is that in the nect two years we’ll be getting the Shawn Levy-directed “Star Wars: Starfighter” and a TV-to-movie spinoff (“The Mandalorian and Grogu”).
Hey, here’s a radical idea: how about Disney resurrect Soderbergh’s project? Maybe now that it is known to have existed, there will be fan pressure and petitions to make it happen. Otherwise, my interest in Star Wars is nil to none.