While there are a handful of upcoming Star Wars movies to look forward to, one focused on Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, a.k.a. Ben Solo, isn’t among them. Last October, Driver revealed that he’d teamed up with Steven Soderbergh, who directed him in Logan Lucky, and Rebecca Blunt to put together a story following Ben after he’s somehow resurrected post-Rise of Skywalker. Alas, Lucasfilm didn’t bite at the project, but when the time came that Driver decided he wanted to talk about this scrapped attempt to bring back Kylo Ren, Soderbergh gave him some advice.
During Soderbergh’s interview with BKMag, it was brought up how it sounded that the Kylo Ren movie was close getting greenlighted by then-Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of the company’s leadership, only for the even higher-ups at Disney to put the kibosh on that for “story reasons.” When the Ocean’s trilogy filmmaker was asked if he was aware how disappointed Kennedy was that this happened, he answered:
No, it was no surprise that she was frustrated. We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt. 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.
Per what Adam Driver said in October, it was Disney heads Alan Horn and Bob Iger specifically who understand how Ben Solo could still be alive after The Rise of Skywalker, hence why the movie didn’t move forward. The actor was willing to share that information, but it also sounds like he took Steven Soderbergh’s advice and didn’t share his personal opinion on these events. From his end, Soderbergh is certainly still displeased with how all that work he poured into the Star Wars project with Driver and Rebecca Blunt ultimately didn’t pay off, saying:
And as I posted, I’d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. 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.
While I’m sure there will be other opportunities to see Kylo Ren in action in novels, comic book series and maybe even video games, this movie would have been Adam Driver’s last chance to reprise the character. Admittedly, I’d raise an eyebrow at most people trying to bring Ben Solo back to life after he nobly sacrificed himself in The Rise of Skywalker. However, if Driver, Steven Soderbergh and Rebecca Blunt were willing to dedicate two and a half years into figuring out this twisty return without being paid, then I’m annoyed we’ll never learn what they came up with for Lucasfilm.
With Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan now running Lucasfilm together, and Josh D’Amaro set to succeed Bob Iger as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, perhaps there’s a chance this Kylo Ren movie could be revived in this new era, just like what was planned for the character. For now, though, we can look forward to The Mandalorian & Grogu, the first Star Wars movie since The Rise of Skywalker, being released in theaters on May 22. The Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter will follow on May 28, 2027.
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