Adam Driver on The Hunt for Ben Solo: is the film really dead?

Adam Driver has spoken again about The Hunt for Ben Solo, the Steven Soderbergh film that Disney rejected. He calls the script really good but says the ship has sailed. I was never on board with bringing Ben Solo back.

My cohost joined me to talk through Driver's comments, the fan campaign, the difference between Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy, and why Episode 10 and the new trilogy could decide how Filoni's time at Lucasfilm is judged.

Why I never wanted Ben Solo back in Star Wars

There was a report months ago that Steven Soderbergh was developing this movie with Adam Driver. I love the idea of Soderbergh being involved in Star Wars. I think that's brilliant, and I like Adam Driver. My problem was how Ben Solo was handled in general. I always thought he should have stayed evil in the first place. Bringing him back again made me ask why.

I was in the minority. Many people wanted to see what they were going to do, and they loved this team up. I think that was more about Soderbergh and Driver wanting to do something with Star Wars. I understand why you'd want that team up, because it's quality. There was a lot of buzz. Then we found out that Disney shot it down. I think it was Bob Iger. The reason given was that the character is dead, and my reaction was finally.

Someone made this point recently about Marvel: so and so is dead, don't you remember? My answer is that everybody comes back. They'll be back in the next movie. That's what they do. Nobody ever really stays dead.

Adam Driver on The Hunt for Ben Solo script and the fan campaign

The project would have taken place after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Driver, Soderbergh and writer Rebecca Blunt teamed up on a film that would have followed Driver's Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, on a redemptive path. According to the report, Bob Iger and Alan Bergman rejected it, even though everyone at Lucasfilm, including Kathleen Kennedy, was pleased with the project. A large fan movement has pushed for it to be revived, but Disney chiefs have stayed firm. The report says Dave Filoni confirmed in August that the project is absolutely dead.

In a new interview with Rich Eisen, Driver was asked where the project stands. He said they worked on it earnestly for two years. "We got a script together that was really good with Scott Burns and Rebecca Blunt and Soderbergh and I, we all worked on it," Driver said. He added that it's not their call, and "I think the ship has sailed though."

He was also struck by how fans responded. "The fan response to it was pretty incredible. I didn't expect that it was going to be billboards and people flying planes over Disney and things like that," Driver said. Star Wars is instead going with filmmaker Jon Watts and Simon Kinberg to continue the Skywalker saga with Star Wars Episode 10, which is in development.

Chris Carr on Kylo Ren: curious, not desperate

Chris started where I did, with the fact that the character died. Darth Maul came up in the discussion as a character who survived being cut in half. Chris said he mostly agreed that the appeal was Soderbergh and Driver wanting to work together, or the two of them liking the script they had come up with.

Chris said he knows most people aren't in his camp. He liked The Last Jedi and hates The Rise of Skywalker. He said people who feel the opposite are welcome to. He loves the Kylo Ren character and said he is a sucker for any redemptive character exploration, so he was interested in what the script looked like. He would love to see how it turned out, but said it isn't something he's "absolutely feral for." His summary: "you have my curiosity."

Why Kathleen Kennedy backed it, and why a Filoni no could mean a plan

I would have liked to read the script, because of who was involved. But if Filoni is one of the people digging his heels in and saying he's dead, it's over, good for him. To me that shows he has a plan, and not having one has been one of Star Wars' biggest problems.

It doesn't surprise me that Kathleen Kennedy wanted to do it. She would have wanted to work with someone like Steven Soderbergh on a take like this. She was never a lore person. She never thought about how one movie ties into another and leads somewhere else. It was always about a good project with talented people involved. That's how any producer would normally work. But with properties like Star Wars, Marvel and DC, you have to think differently.

I've been a critic of Filoni, but it seems like he's got a plan. He did very well with where Rebels went and how it tied into the overall lore. If he can do that with a trilogy and help develop it with Kinberg, that's the difference I give him over Kennedy. Kennedy knew how to make movies. Filoni knows how to tell Star Wars stories. He cares about the lore and canon, not the money or production side. He's a Star Wars fan. The job doesn't require that, and Kennedy wasn't one. If his plan doesn't include Kylo Ren, I'm all for it.

The jury is still out, though. I need to see how Ahsoka season 2 turns out and how these movies go. You can't judge Starfighter on him, because it wasn't his regime. Once Episode 10 comes out, that's when everything starts pointing at Filoni. If Jon Watts knocks it out of the park, they get a big cast, and maybe they right the ship a little after the sequel trilogy, he'll be in good shape after his first movie. It's not an easy task by a long shot.

Chris Carr's concern: Filoni and his own characters

Chris said a lot depends on another issue. Filoni has been accused of only liking his own characters and his own parts of Star Wars, and of focusing on his darlings. Chris thinks the next stage for Filoni is showing what he can do with characters who aren't his creations. He said Filoni knows the lore and how to build on it, but seems to keep finding his way back to his own material. Chris said there's nothing wrong with that.

Chris said this is always his critique. It's a galaxy far, far away, and he needs to see other people and other stories every now and then. If they tie in, that's fun, and he likes that. But he wants other things happening. He also thinks a lot hinges on what Filoni does with Ahsoka, because that show ebbed and flowed all over the place, and I agreed.

Could Dave Filoni direct while running Lucasfilm like James Gunn?

You can separate the TV side from the movies. A while ago, Filoni was supposed to have his own spin off movie. I think it was slated for around this point, but that has changed dramatically. I think it was going to bring together everything happening in Ahsoka and the Mandalorian universe. The rumor was some version of Heir to the Empire. That was before he was announced as the new head of Lucasfilm. There was also the Rey movie that is no longer happening, and the rumors of a new trilogy. I think they've finally decided where things are going.

Filoni still wants to direct. So will he pull a James Gunn, running the whole company and still directing? One way would be an Ahsoka lead in to a Disney Plus movie rather than a theatrical one. I don't think he has the same resume, or has been as battle tested with theatrical releases, as Gunn. He has done TV work already. Or he may just shepherd projects. I think there will be big announcements at Star Wars Celebration in April, and Chris agreed.

Chris Carr: Star Wars deserves the big screen again

Chris said they need to capitalize and tell fans what's moving forward, because Star Wars is in a weird place. There is finally some new material coming to theaters, which he called very exciting. But he said fans need to know where the course is being charted so they can keep exploring this galaxy and stay excited about it.

The TV shows are great, Chris said, but the long running argument is that Star Wars deserves to be on a big screen. He thought it was cool to have that with The Mandalorian and Grogu, but it still felt like a Disney Plus movie put on the big screen. He said fans need more to get excited about, to turn around some of the negativity in the fandom. In his words, "We got to give people the hope."

Star Wars: Starfighter as a test for Filoni

Starfighter will answer some questions, including whether people still care about Star Wars, because it's the first real Star Wars movie in theaters. Chris called it a big test, and I said it was a huge one. I think The Mandalorian and Grogu was around 150 to 160 million dollars. This one is going to push into 220 or 230 million, if not more. It has a big star in Ryan Gosling and a big cast in general, including Matt Smith and Amy Adams. I think she might be in it for five minutes, but it's still a big cast.

Here's my question, and it's really one for Filoni, because I don't know what is truth and what is rumor. There was a rumor that Filoni wasn't sold on Starfighter as the way forward. I don't think he was against it. I just don't think he was pushing for it. So maybe for him it's a spin off and that's it.

But what if it makes 1.5 billion dollars, the kind of money Star Wars used to make? I don't think it will, but what if it does? What if people love Ryan Gosling's character, the kid, and the other new characters? From things I've heard, Filoni doesn't seem to have been this kind of person in the past. Can he say he doesn't love where it's going creatively, but people like it, so he'll make a sequel? He'll learn quickly when Disney starts calling at 3 in the morning asking why the sequel isn't in development yet.

Chris Carr on the concessions Filoni will have to make

Chris said that's going to be Filoni's real test: whether he can see outside himself and the things he wants to make, and do what's best for the studio. Chris said that if he criticizes executives, he also has to give them their flowers. When they say they need to dive into a franchise because it's foolish to leave money on the floor, he understands that.

Chris also understands that Filoni, as an artist, has a vision. He thinks those two things will collide, and Filoni will have to make concessions between what he wants to make and what people want. Chris hopes there will be a big overlap, but said it's more than likely some projects will be things Filoni doesn't want to champion. He noted that everything gets blown out of proportion. He wants to see how Filoni reacts if a film he didn't champion does those numbers. Chris said it would be a great sign if Filoni says, "Hey, I know when I'm wrong about something and now we got to put our eggs in this basket." That's what Chris is hoping to see.

Why the new trilogy will make or break Dave Filoni

To be fair, it isn't necessarily about Filoni being wrong. Maybe he's asked whether this is a story he wanted to tell, and he decides that's the story they're doing and lends everything he can to it. You would assume that's happening now, because he's the one in charge. He's the one who gets the phone calls about premieres and reshoots. He'd be foolish not to embrace it, and he needs it done well. Whether or not he was part of it, it comes out under his watch.

Many uneducated people will blame him if it does poorly. In the same way, others will say he's one for one. No, you have to give that win to Kathleen Kennedy. And if it's a loss, it's still Kennedy's loss.

It's the new trilogy that will make or break his career and decide whether he stays in that position. If he can get a trilogy running that isn't divisive, that people love, and that captures the old Star Wars magic, he could wind up being the savior of Star Wars. But it's not an easy task.