Steven Soderbergh may never have gotten to make his “Star Wars” movie starring Adam Driver, but that’s not going to slow him down. While promoting his latest movie “The Christophers,” the Oscar-winning director revealed that the project, tentatively titled “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” was “going to be the most important thing” that he had ever attempted to make.
Steven Soderbergh Shares Latest Insight On Scrapped ‘Star Wars’ Film
In October 2025, Adam Driver revealed that he planned to return to a galaxy far, distant together with his character, Ben Solo, who was redeemed from the dark side and ultimately died in 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” Although Lucasfilm initially seemed on board with the concept, Driver claimed Disney CEO Bob Iger scrapped the film after he didn’t see how Ben Solo could come back to life.
Soderbergh has since expressed “frustration” and “disappointment” that the project was scrapped, telling BK Mag “that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and [writer] Rebecca Blunt.”
Soderbergh Told Adam Driver Not To ‘Editorialize’ Why The Movie Was Cancelled
He continued, “When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, ‘Look, don’t editorialize or speculate concerning the why. Just say what happened, because all we all know is what happened.’ The stated reason was, ‘We don’t think Ben Solo might be alive.’ And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you realize, except move on.”
“I’d form of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that no person else was going to get to see it,” he continued. “I believed the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one—where they go, what is that this going to cost? And I had a extremely good answer for that. But it surely never even got to that time. It’s insane. We’re all very disillusioned.”
Steven Soderbergh Thought It Would Be ‘The Biggest Thing’ He’s Ever Made
In one other interview with The Day by day Beast, Soderbergh admitted, “In the previous couple of years, many of the projects have been either small or mid-sized, and I’ve been hankering for something a bit larger.”
He went on to say, “Star Wars was going to occupy that slot. That was going to be the most important thing I’ve ever attempted to make. And I used to be enthusiastic about working on an enormous canvas. You recognize, it’s been some time. I’ve got other stuff that I’m attempting to get going that’ll satisfy that desire.”
After admitting that he had been working on “The Hunt For Ben Solo” for a “very long time,” he compared it to “complaining concerning the weather,” saying, “You simply must figure it out. It’s the artist’s job to adapt.”
Soderbergh Is Not Afraid To Approach One other Franchise
When asked if he was afraid to approach one other franchise after his experience with Disney, Soderbergh jokingly called himself “the cockroach after the nuclear winter.”
“There’s no version of the business that I don’t think I can discover a way through,” he said. “I didn’t view that as moving into the maw of some machine that was going to chew me up. It’s conceivable—whether it’s an concept that I generate or if I’m approached by something that’s ‘hell yeah!’—that I might find myself working in a franchise context. I’m not frightened about that. I can function properly in that atmosphere.”
Steven Soderbergh Reveals His Stance On One other ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Movie
Soderbergh was also asked within the interview if he planned to revisit the world of “Ocean’s Eleven.” Despite the fact that some fans have been looking forward to his return to the franchise, especially after his “Star Wars” project with Adam Driver didn’t work out, Soderbergh seemed able to hand over the reins to another person.
“Between the three I did after which Gary’s movie [Ocean’s 8], I’ve put within the hours. Truthfully, anyone else should make it theirs,” he said. “I put my signature on the three I directed, and it’s all teed up for anyone else to do this, they usually should.”
“They’re tricky, but they’re fun. And it’s fun to make things which are fun,” he added. “I actually have very fond memories of my Ocean’s duty, nevertheless it’s anyone else’s turn. I don’t know what else to present it.”