What If Ben Solo Lived? New Details on Adam Driver’s Star Wars Sequel Revealed

Adam Driver revealed earlier this week that he once pushed to return to the Star Wars galaxy in a project called The Hunt for Ben Solo, a film that was secretly developed but ultimately shut down by Disney.

According to Driver, the movie was meant to continue the story after The Rise of Skywalker, exploring what might have happened if Ben Solo had survived.

The actor said he had always been open to revisiting the role of Kylo Ren, telling Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy years ago that he’d come back “with a great director and a great story.”

That story came together when Driver teamed up with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Rebecca Blunt.

The three began shaping a concept centered on Ben Solo’s redemption and survival, working quietly before presenting it to Lucasfilm. Kennedy, along with executives Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck, reportedly supported the idea and brought in writer Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) to turn it into a full script.

Driver described the result as one of the best scripts he’d ever read. “It was one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of,” he said. The film was codenamed Quiet Leaves and had moved far enough into development to begin early prep and staffing. Burns, who had previously done uncredited work on Rogue One, was paid a record amount for his screenplay.

But despite Lucasfilm’s approval, the project stalled once it reached Disney leadership. CEO Bob Iger and executive Sean Bailey reportedly questioned how Ben Solo could still be alive after his death in The Rise of Skywalker.

Insiders say Lucasfilm believed the story’s explanation made sense, but the higher-ups chose not to move forward, marking the first time a fully approved Star Wars film was stopped at that stage.

The decision appears to have caused tension inside Disney. Reports suggest it affected other executive projects and even played a role in internal shifts related to Iger’s succession plans. Soderbergh and Driver were never paid for their work, though Burns received a modest seven-figure payment for his completed script.

Hints of The Hunt for Ben Solo’s existence surfaced earlier this year when a Lucasfilm designer mentioned working under the Quiet Leaves codename during a design sprint, an early preproduction step.

The story would have followed a redeemed Ben Solo on the run after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, though it’s unclear if characters like Rey would have appeared.

Some fans believe Driver’s recent comments were a way to push Disney to reconsider the idea, but sources close to him and Soderbergh say the project is officially dead. Both are now free to discuss it publicly for the first time.

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