- Primary Subject: The Hunt for Ben Solo Status
- Key Update: Director Steven Soderbergh has officially confirmed the project is dead, stating he has no interest in reviving it despite recent leadership changes at Disney and Lucasfilm.
- Status: Cancelled
- Last Verified: April 9, 2026
- Quick Answer: No, the film is not happening. Soderbergh bluntly rejected revival talks, noting that Disney execs originally scrapped the project because they believed Ben Solo was dead.
The future of the Star Wars spin-off has reached a definitive end. Last year, fans were shocked to learn that Adam Driver and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh had been quietly developing The Hunt for Ben Solo, only for Bob Iger and Alan Bergman to turn down the project. Could The Hunt for Ben Solo still happen? Soderbergh finally addresses this.
Will The Hunt for Ben Solo Still Happen? Director Steven Soderbergh Says Otherwise
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Despite a massive fan campaign under the hashtag #SaveTheHuntforBenSolo and recent executive shakeups, including Josh D'Amaro taking over as Disney CEO and Dave Filoni stepping up as Lucasfilm Co-President, Steven Soderbergh has officially closed the door on reviving The Hunt for Ben Solo.
"Nope," the filmmaker bluntly told The Playlist after being asked if he would be open to reviving The Hunt for Ben Solo, as a The Rise of Skywalker follow-up.
"Well, I don't want to say [Andor had no influence], because then it makes it seem like, you know, 'I watched Andor, and it had absolutely no impact on me,' which is not true; it was great," Soderbergh continued, "But this was [all] before Andor aired. Adam and I started talking, and this would have been almost three years ago now."
Soderbergh went on to explain how the concept pitch for the spin-off started: "It was strictly Adam [Driver] saying, 'I think there's still somewhere to go with this character.' That's how it started. Otherwise, I never in a million years would have found myself in that universe again. I don't regret one minute of the time we spent working on that. I felt the work was good."
However, even if the spin-off wouldn't be coming to fruition, Soderbergh has no regrets over the rejection: "As soon as it became apparent, OK, not gonna happen, I sat down and started writing [something else]. It's like, 'OK, new scenario, let's get cracking.' At a certain point, it's like complaining about the weather. You just gotta keep moving. Look, if it was gonna happen, it would have happened. It's that simple."
Why The Hunt for Ben Solo Got Scrapped in the First Place
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According to Driver, The Hunt for Ben Solo would have followed his character somehow surviving Emperor Palpatine's wrath. Disney, however, "didn't see how Ben Solo was alive" and refused to move past the character's definitive death in Episode IX.
The project's demise came as a shock to the creative team, especially since Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was reportedly a supporter of the pitch. The decision was ultimately vetoed by top Disney brass, including former CEO Bob Iger and Alan Bergman.
At the time, Driver intended to have a more "economical" and "handmade" aim for a smaller, character-driven scale project similar to The Empire Strikes Back, in hopes of delivering what Star Wars fans wanted out of the galaxy far, far away.
Sadly, as Soderbergh noted, the conversation never progressed past discussing the actual budget before being shut down. For now, fans will have to wait until there are any further developments amid executive shakeups. Stay tuned!
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