Star Wars actor Adam Driver has revealed that a “cool” standalone movie about his character from the sci-fi series was rejected despite LucasFilm executives loving the idea.
The 41-year-old played Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which was released between 2015 and 2019.
Despite the character being killed off in 2019’s Rise of Skywalker, Driver, along with Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh, had written a script called The Hunt for Ben Solo, which would be a redemption story for Kylo.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Driver told the Associated Press. “I always said: ‘With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second.’ I loved that character and loved playing him.”
Comparing the unmade film to 1980s The Empire Strikes Back, Driver said that he and Soderbergh had developed the script with screenwriters Rebecca Blunt and Scott Z Burns and it was “the standard of what a Star Wars movie should be”.
However, the movie was rejected by LucasFilm executives Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni and Cary Beck, even though they “loved the idea”.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm,” Driver said. “They loved the idea. They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it. We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
Driver went on to call the film “one of the coolest scripts I had ever been a part of.”
Soderbergh added: “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.”
The Independent has contacted LucasFilm for comment.
Despite rejecting Driver’s script LucasFilm and Disney aren’t short of new movies. Although there are rumours of a new trilogy of movies, two confirmed films, The Mandalorian & Grogu and Starfighter, are set for release in the next two years.
Starfighter, set for release in 2027, will star Ryan Gosling, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird and Amy Adams in the standalone feature.
While plot details have been kept under wraps, the film, directed by Shawn Levy, will be an “entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars,” according to a press release.
Before that, The Mandalorian & Grogu, a spin-off of The Mandolorian TV show, will be released in May 2026.
The film takes place after the events of 1983’s Return of the Jedi and follows Pedro Pascal’s lead character after he is recruited by the New Republic to stamp out the last remains of the evil Empire.
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