Steven Soderbergh Describes Disney’s Determination To not Make ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ as “Insane”

It seems the scrapped Ben Solo film didn’t quietly fade away — it hit a wall. And in response to Steven Soderberghthat wall made zero sense. Chatting with BKmag, the filmmaker opened up about Disney’s choice to not transfer ahead with The Hunt for Ben Soloa challenge he had been creating alongside Adam Driver and author Rebecca Blunt for 2 and a half years.

When requested whether or not it stunned him that the movie seemed to be basically greenlit earlier than being killed for “story causes,” Soderbergh didn’t sugarcoat it.

“No, it was no shock that she was pissed off. We had been all pissed off,” he stated, referring to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “You realize, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt.”

Soderbergh additionally revealed that earlier than Driver spoke publicly concerning the challenge’s demise, they agreed to maintain issues factual.

“When Adam and I mentioned him speaking about it publicly, I stated, ‘Look, don’t editorialize or speculate concerning the why. Simply say what occurred, as a result of all we all know is what occurred. The said cause was ‘We don’t suppose Ben Solo could possibly be alive.’ And that was all we had been instructed. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you realize, besides transfer on.”

Why Did ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ Not Get Made?

It by no means will get any simpler to learn, does it? That single clarification — that Disney management didn’t purchase the concept that Ben Solo survived The Rise of Skywalker — was sufficient to close the entire thing down earlier than price range conversations even started. And when you think about a number of the different stuff they’ve made…

“I believed the dialog was strictly going to be a sensible one—the place they go, what is that this going to value? And I had a extremely good reply for that. But it surely by no means even bought to that time. It’s insane. We’re all very dissatisfied.”

Insane is clearly a powerful phrase, but it surely’s onerous to not learn the frustration between the traces. Soderbergh admitted he had already “made the film in (his) head,” and felt dangerous that audiences would by no means get to see it. For a franchise that has revived characters via clones, Power ghosts, and Palpatine-level resurrections, the thought that survival was a deal-breaker has positively raised eyebrows.

For now, The Hunt for Ben Solo stays a type of nice “what if” Star Wars tales.