Adam Driver says Kylo Ren return is over after Disney rejection

By Grace Kim

Adam Driver says Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman rejected The Hunt for Ben Solo, his pitched Kylo Ren movie, and that he is done with Star Wars: “Yeah, it’s over… No more ‘Star Wars.’” The film had been in development for a few years, Driver said.

On a recent episode of The Rich Eisen Show, Driver said Rich Eisen asked whether he would ever play the Star Wars villain again. He and Steven Soderbergh had tried to make one more standalone Kylo Ren film.

In Driver’s telling, Iger and Bergman could not accept the idea that Ben Solo had survived: “No, he’s dead.” He said the script had already reached Lucasfilm before he and Soderbergh took it to the two executives.

Where the project stalled

Driver said: “I always was interested in doing another ‘Star Wars.’” He added that they presented the script to Lucasfilm, which “loved the idea” and “totally understood our angle and why we were doing it.”

The approval path then moved to Disney leadership. “We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no,” Driver continued. “They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”

According to Driver, Lucasfilm supported the concept, but two Disney executives rejected its survival premise. His account separates creative enthusiasm from the corporate decision to proceed.

The screenplay took years

Driver reiterated that Soderbergh would direct. “We worked on it for a few years, really and earnestly. We got a script together that was really good with Scott Burns, Rebecca Blunt, and Soderbergh and I. We all worked on it… It was awesome. It was really cool. But you know, I don’t get to decide.”

Driver was describing a completed screenplay, not an early concept. His “I don’t get to decide” also identifies the limit of his control over the project.

What does Driver’s announcement change for Kylo Ren?

His comments draw a firm line around his own participation. When Eisen asked whether he would return if someone resurrected the project, Driver said: “If they wanted to, fine. But we’re not… It’s not our call. I think the ship has sailed though.”

The practical change is to Driver’s involvement, not to whether the film can return. Driver says he is finished with Star Wars, while the decision to revive The Hunt for Ben Solo remains with the studio. Any future version would have to proceed without him unless he changes position.

The public campaign around the dropped film

Driver said the response to the dropped film had been “pretty incredible.” He added: “I didn’t expect that it was going to be billboards and people flying planes over Disney and things like that. That was pretty cool.”

Driver was referring to a group of Star Wars fans who, after news broke, paid for a plane to fly a “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” banner over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The display brought the abandoned project into public view.

Soderbergh’s April condition

In April, Soderbergh offered a conditional view of the project’s prospects: the film “would have happened,” “if it was gonna happen.” His remark matched Driver’s account of a project that existed creatively but lacked the final go-ahead. Neither statement announced a revival, a new cast or a production schedule.

Disney’s next move is practical: decide whether The Hunt for Ben Solo has a future without Driver. Soderbergh’s April condition and the Burbank banner show that interest survived the rejection, but the final step rests with the studio, as Driver put it: “I don’t get to decide.”