Steven Soderbergh has opened up about the long-rumoured Star Wars project he secretly worked on, titled The Hunt for Ben Solo.
After Adam Driver confirmed earlier this week that the unmade film was indeed real, the Ocean’s Eleven filmmaker took to BlueSky to finally break his silence. “For the record, I did not enjoy lying about the existence of The Hunt for Ben Solo, but it really did need to remain a secret… until now!” he wrote on Monday.
Soderbergh later shared that the secrecy surrounding the project came with unexpected consequences. “In the aftermath of the ‘HFBS’ situation, I asked Kathy Kennedy if Lucasfilm had ever delivered a completed movie script for greenlight that Disney rejected. She said no — this was a first,” he revealed in a follow-up post on Friday.
Driver, who was set to reprise his role as Kylo Ren (also known as Ben Solo), called the abandoned project “one of the coolest things” he’s ever worked on. The film would have reportedly picked up after The Rise of Skywalker, following Ben Solo’s journey toward redemption.
Reflecting on the shelved film, Soderbergh previously told the Associated Press, “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.” Meanwhile, Star Warsloyalists aren’t ready to let go. Earlier this week, Collider reported that a passionate group of fans hired a plane to fly over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, with a banner that read: “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo.”
