Adam Driver still isn’t over losing The Hunt for Ben Solo. Asked about the Star Wars film Disney shut down, the Kylo Ren actor called the decision “criminal,” and said he never understood why the studio needed convincing once Steven Soderbergh was the one who wanted to direct it.
“For me it was: Steven Soderbergh wants to make a ‘Star Wars’ film. What are we debating?” Driver said in a new interview with The Associated Press while promoting his film Paper Tiger. “It’s what it is. It’s criminal. Or it felt criminal. We’re all moving on. On to the next. And Steven already has something else that’s one of the best things he’s ever written.”
Two And A Half Years Of Work
Driver and Soderbergh spent two and a half years developing The Hunt for Ben Solo before Disney passed on it. The project would have brought back Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who spent most of the sequel trilogy as Kylo Ren before his death at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
Driver first revealed the film existed in October 2025, also in an interview with the AP. He said at the time that he had been talking about another Star Wars movie since 2021, after Kathleen Kennedy reached out, and that his condition was simple: “With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second.” According to Driver, Disney executives ended it because they couldn’t see how the character could come back after The Rise of Skywalker.
The Fans Who Fought For It
News of the cancelled film set off a campaign that hasn’t really stopped. Fans paid for a plane to tow a “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” banner over the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, and the push reached billboards in Times Square. Daisy Ridley, who played Rey opposite Driver, has also cheered on the fans behind it.
Driver said the response caught him off guard. “I was blown away by the response to it,” he told the AP. “In no way did I think there would be billboards in Times Square. It’s so moving. It did feel like we were all at the bar having a conversation about the films we wanted to see.”
Don’t Expect Kylo Ren Back
For all the frustration, Driver isn’t holding the door open. Earlier on the same press tour he said he’s done playing Kylo Ren, telling The Rich Eisen Show that a return is “not our call” and that “the ship has sailed.”
That leaves The Hunt for Ben Solo where it has been since last year: developed for years, then shelved. For Driver, everyone is moving on, and Soderbergh already has his next script.
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