Adam Driver Calls Disney's Killing of 'The Hunt for Ben Solo' 'Criminal'

Adam Driver has called Disney's decision to kill "The Hunt for Ben Solo" — the "Star Wars" sequel film he spent two-and-a-half years developing with Steven Soderbergh — "criminal," in a new interview with The Associated Press conducted on the press tour for his film "Paper Tiger."

The Oscar nominee said the studio's hesitation over the project baffled him, given the director attached to it. "For me it was: Steven Soderbergh wants to make a 'Star Wars' film. What are we debating?" Driver said. "It's what it is. It's criminal. Or it felt criminal. We're all moving on. On to the next. And Steven already has something else that's one of the best things he's ever written."

Driver first revealed the existence of "The Hunt for Ben Solo" in an October 2025 interview with The Associated Press. There, he explained that Disney executives pulled the plug because they could not accept the character returning after his apparent death in 2019's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

His interest in a return ran long and deep, he said at the time. "I always was interested in doing another 'Star Wars,'" Driver said. "I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. Kathleen [Kennedy] had reached out. 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."

What did the fan campaign actually achieve?

The project's existence mobilized "Star Wars" fans almost immediately. Supporters called on social media for Disney to reverse the decision and return the film to development. A group of fans paid for a plane to fly a banner reading "Save 'The Hunt for Ben Solo'" over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Daisy Ridley, who starred opposite Driver as Rey in the sequel trilogy, publicly backed the campaign.

Driver told the AP the scale of the response caught him off guard. "I was blown away by the response to it," he said. "In no way did I think there would be billboards in Times Square. It's so moving. It did feel like we were all at the bar having a conversation about the films we wanted to see."

The billboards did not move Disney, at least not publicly. The studio has not announced any reversal, and no executive has addressed the campaign on the record. That silence is worth noting: fan mobilization, however loud, has so far changed nothing about the project's status.

Is Driver done with Kylo Ren for good?

Earlier on the "Paper Tiger" press tour, Driver appeared on "The Rich Eisen Show" and said his time playing Kylo Ren and Ben Solo is officially over now that "The Hunt for Ben Solo" is dead. "If they wanted to, fine. But we're not … It's not our call. I think the ship has sailed though," he said.

What does this change for "Star Wars"? For now, nothing confirmed: a Soderbergh-directed film with Driver remains a fan cause rather than a studio commitment, and the actor has moved on. Soderbergh, by Driver's account, has already written what he calls one of the best scripts of his career — just not for a galaxy far, far away.