Oscar-Winning Director Slams 'Insane' Disney Over 'Star Wars' Decision

Disney’s journey with the “Star Wars” franchise has been very complicated. There was initially a ton of excitement when it was revealed that they were going to make a sequel trilogy that continued the story of the original trilogy.

Unfortunately for Disney, fans didn’t resonate with the story that they decided to tell. The studio has decided to take a break from releasing “Star Wars” projects in theaters since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker,” and while this year’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” marks a return to the silver screen, they may have been another project that could’ve been out already.

At this point, it’s well known that Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh previously worked on a “Star Wars” project called “The Hunt for Ben Solo.” After nearly three years of work, Disney decided to scrap the film, which would’ve starred Adam Driver and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren.

Though the project is long dead, Soderbergh still seems a bit irked about it. He went off on how the film fell apart in a recent interview.

“It was no surprise that [Kathleen Kennedy] was frustrated,” Soderbergh told BK Mag. “We were all frustrated. You know, that was two-and-a-half years of free work for me and Adam [Driver] and [writer] 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.

“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.”

In the past, we’ve seen projects that look dead get revived after the public gets involved, but it seems highly unlikely that Soderbergh will ever be able to get “The Hunt for Ben Solo” off the ground, especially after calling out Disney.

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