The last week has seen a great disturbance in the Force, as the Star Wars fandom learned about another canceled movie. The aftermath of The Rise of Skywalker appeared to leave Star Wars in a state of crisis, with Lucasfilm unsure about the future direction on the big screen. In reality, it seems Lucasfilm had a plan… but Disney CEO Bob Iger nixed it.
Adam Driver has revealed that a sequel pitch – written by the celebrated Steven Soderbergh – would have seen his character Ben Solo return. Operating under the codename “Quiet Leaves,” The Hunt for Ben Solo had a finalized screenplay and was entering early prep and staffing stages. Then Disney execs Bob Iger and Alan Bergman saw it, and decided they didn’t like the idea of Ben Solo’s apparent resurrection.
It’s clearly yet another missed opportunity for Disney’s Star Wars, as proven by a growing online fan campaign that’s even seen a Times Square billboard and a flyover of Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney has accomplished the seemingly impossible, uniting the typically divisive Star Wars fandom – just not quite in the way Iger would have wanted.
But, oddly, there is just one good thing about this unfortunate decision: the fact it has taken us so long to learn about The Hunt for Ben Solo.
Star Wars Has Struggled To Keep Things A Secret
This is, oddly, something of a historic moment for Star Wars. According to Driver and Soderbergh, Lucasfilm successfully kept The Hunt for Ben Solo secret for three years, and they’re only speaking about it now because it’s clearly been fully canceled. As Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy herself has noted, most Star Wars developments tend to leak. As she explained:
“What’s troubling and frustrating is that our development gets scrutinized, and I don’t know any other production company where their development gets scrutinized like that. It’s very hard for anything to happen within Star Wars without some aspect of it becoming public before you even want it to become public. So I guess managing the message in some way is also quite a challenge because, of course, not every single thing we put in development we [are] going to make… So yeah, that’s a tricky one because a lot of the scrutiny around Star Wars and the negativity has been about development. Of course, we’re going to develop lots of different things with an understanding that not everything gets made.“
The Hunt for Ben Solo was different. It got to the final stages of pre-production – signoff from Disney – and yet there were no reports, no leaks. The news has broken purely because Driver went public.
This secrecy is particularly impressive, given this was developed during Bob Chapek’s tenure as Disney CEO (with Iger taking over again in November 2022). Chapek, eager for good news, tended to push Lucasfilm to be as open as possible.
Lucasfilm Seem To Have Perfected Secrecy
Whatever your views may be about Star Wars‘ future direction, Lucasfilm does at least appear to have learned how to control the flow of information. The Hunt for Ben Solo was the first example, an entire film project that got to signoff from Disney without being leaked. The Mandalorian and Grogu remains a mystery, too, even after the current trailer.
Most curious of all, Shawn Levy is carefully drip-feeding information on Starfighter on social media. The development of Starfighter has been pleasingly secretive, with Lucasfilm successfully keeping so many elements under wraps (at least for now).
The Hunt for Ben Solo‘s cancellation may be a(nother) Star Wars mistake, but it at least appears to have set a good precedent in one sense. It shows Lucasfilm now know how to keep a secret – which means there could be some more pleasant surprises coming, too.
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
