In case you missed it, The Hunt for Ben Solo is a “phantom” Star Wars movie that never went into production, but whose existence was officially revealed by actor Adam Driver in October 2025 and later confirmed by both director Steven Soderbergh and major Hollywood publications.
The project, produced by Lucasfilm and written and directed by Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, was supposed to tell a new story about Kylo Ren after the events of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Although the complete script has never been made public, at least not yet, leaked details anticipate a story centred on the redemption of Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who turned to the Dark Side, and the consequences of his past actions. In terms of timeline, The Hunt for Ben Solo would have been a direct sequel to The Rise of Skywalker, with a story set after Kylo Ren’s presumed death on Exegol: the script would have explained his return by exploiting the Dyad’s bond in the Force with Rey Skywalker.
But why “The Hunt for Ben Solo”? Who would hunt him down and, above all, why? Nothing could be simpler: to emphasize the dualism of good and evil at the heart of the character, the film’s title refers to the fact that, despite his redemption in Episode IX, the galaxy still considers Kylo Ren a war criminal, and in the film, the protagonist Ben Solo would have been a fugitive hunted by various factions in the galaxy far, far away, all while trying to come to terms with his past.
Adam Driver compared the project to The Empire Strikes Back, describing it as a “handmade” film dedicated to the psychological development of the character, much more “intimate” than traditional blockbusters. We know that Star Wars: The Hunt for Ben Solo received the green light from Lucasfilm, approved directly by Kathleen Kennedy and her successor Dave Filoni, but according to reports, the project was blocked directly by Disney: apparently, executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman rejected the film because they did not believe it was credible that Ben Solo could have survived the ending of Episode IX after clearly “vanishing” before our eyes. In their opinion, bringing him back to life would have diminished his sacrifice or created confusion among fans.
Recently, director Steven Soderbergh expressed his frustration with the situation surrounding The Hunt for Ben Solo, revealing that he had worked on it for over two and a half years for free alongside Adam Driver, only to see it canceled permanently, something he called “a waste of time.” The revelation of the film obviously sparked a massive online campaign by fans, who flooded social media with the famous hashtag #SaveTheHuntForBenSolo and even organized actual protests, with demonstrations in front of Disney’s headquarters in Burbank and planes flying banners over the building.
Despite the fans’ wishes, unfortunately, The Hunt for Ben Solo is officially considered canceled, although it cannot be ruled out that the new Disney management may reconsider the matter in the future and bring the production back to life (literally).
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