Director Steven Soderbergh hasn’t been shy about answering questions related to his scrapped “Star Wars” film, “The Hunt For Ben Solo.” He and actor Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the sequel trilogy, worked on the project for years before it was ultimately scrapped by Disney.
Before unveiling his new John Lennon documentary ahead of its Cannes premiere, Soderbergh spoke to Deadline about the shelved Ben Solo movie. They asked what other major franchise could “tempt” him; however, it seems that the director has absolutely no plans to create another franchise film after his deal with Lucasfilm fell apart.
“It’s not coming to mind … I’m not a snob, clearly,” Soderbergh said. “You can see that from my list of credits. [But] the feeling has to be, ‘I can’t bear the idea of somebody else doing this. I’m the person to do this.’ It has to be that.”
“So given my background, there are just certain genres that I’m not steeped in: Didn’t read that stuff, wasn’t exposed to that stuff. You know what I mean?” he continued. “I didn’t buy or read comic books, for instance. So that whole space, I don’t have a problem with it — it’s just not in my DNA, and I wouldn’t be good at it.”
Soderbergh Thought His Scrapped ‘Star Wars’ Film Would Be ‘The Biggest Thing’ He Ever Made
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Soderbergh admitted that he had been taking on smaller projects over the past few years and thought that a trip to a galaxy far, far away would be the kind of ambitious project he was looking for.
“Star Wars was going to occupy that slot. That was going to be the biggest thing I’ve ever attempted to make. And I was excited about working on a big canvas,” he said. “You know, it’s been a while. I’ve got other stuff that I’m trying to get going that’ll satisfy that desire.”
He admitted that he had been working on the canceled “Star Wars” film for a “long time,” but compared complaining about its cancellation to “complaining about the weather,” adding, “You just have to figure it out.”
Steven Soderbergh Has No Plans To Return To A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Although some “Star Wars” fans are hopeful that the script may someday get made, Steven Soderbergh told The Playlist that the film is dead, saying, “Look, if it was gonna happen, it would have happened.”
“It’s that simple,” he added, giving a clear “Nope” when asked if he would ever return to the project.
However, he said that he had no regrets about working on the project. “I don’t regret one minute of the time we spent working on that,” he said. “I felt the work was good. It’s just good for you to be in that room and working on it. It’s like CrossFit—it’s good for you. It’ll have a residual effect that will be unexpected at some point.”
Soderbergh Reveals The Idea Came From Adam Driver
During the same interview, Soderbergh also revealed that Driver was the one who had brought up the idea of making another movie focused on the character. “It was strictly Adam saying, ‘I think there’s still somewhere to go with this character.’ That’s how it started,” Soderbergh revealed.
While speaking to Variety, he revealed that Driver “felt bad” about getting him involved in the project, only for it to be shut down.
“Adam felt bad for having gotten me into it. I think he felt like he wasted my time, and I made it clear to him, ‘Dude, that was not wasted time.’ It’s a problem-solving experience that will get applied to everything I do going forward,” Soderbergh said.
“I’m not upset,” he continued. “I feel positive about everything that we did together.”
Steven Soderbergh Is Still ‘Disappointed’ About How It All Played Out
Even though he doesn’t consider it wasted time, he told the BK Mag that they were “all frustrated” that the film was canceled after they had already written the script.
“You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and [writer] Rebecca Blunt,” he explained. “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.”
“I’d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it,” he continued. “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.”
Adam Driver Revealed The Film’s Existence In October 2025
In October 2025, Driver told AP News that he was “always interested” in doing another film in a galaxy far, far away and worked on the idea with Soderbergh after Kathleen Kennedy had “reached out.”
They presented a script, written by Scott Z. Burns, to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it,” Driver explained. “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.”
Although many fans are disappointed that Disney canceled “The Hunt For Ben Solo,” the franchise recently returned to theaters for the first time in years. “The Mandalorian & Grogu” was the first movie released since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” It will be followed by “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which is scheduled to hit theaters in May 2027.