Adam Driver Closes the Door on ‘Star Wars’ After a Ben Solo Movie That Never Was

Few franchise villains have had a stranger path than Kylo Ren. Driver played the conflicted Skywalker-family antagonist across 3 films, ‘The Force Awakens’ in 2015, ‘The Last Jedi’ in 2017, and ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ in 2019. The role turned him from a respected indie actor into a blockbuster face, and later into an Oscar-nominated leading man.

Since then, the galaxy far, far away has largely moved on without him. ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ remains the last ‘Star Wars’ movie to reach theaters. The next big-screen entry on the calendar is ‘Star Wars: Starfighter,’ which is in production for a May 28, 2027 release. Driver himself has hinted before that his time with the franchise was finished, but fans have never quite stopped hoping.

Now he has said it as plainly as he can. Appearing on ‘The Rich Eisen Show,’ Driver was asked about the state of his ‘Star Wars’ future, and ComicBook.com shared his answer: “We tried to do one more, but they were like, ‘He’s dead.'” He added that Steven Soderbergh “was going to do it,” and that the team “worked on it for three years.”

The actor said the group got “a script together that was really good” with Scott Burns, Rebecca Blunt, Soderbergh, and himself. His verdict on where things stand was blunt: “It’s over…. If they wanted too, fine. But it’s not our call.” ComicBook.com reported that Driver gave a very quick yes when asked directly if he was done playing Kylo Ren.

The project at the center of this is ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo,’ which first surfaced publicly in late 2025. Driver, Soderbergh, and writer Rebecca Blunt developed a film set after the events of ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ that would have followed Ben Solo on a redemptive path. Considering how divisive the sequel trilogy’s ending was, a Soderbergh-directed follow-up for the character was an intriguing pitch.

According to Driver’s account at the time, the effort was not a quick idea tossed over a fence. He said he and Soderbergh spent 2 years developing the film, enlisting Scott Z. Burns, before Lucasfilm and Disney executives rejected the draft. TheWrap reported that the script was turned down by Bob Iger and Alan Bergman. Disney and Lucasfilm declined to comment.

The news landed hard online. Fans were outraged that Disney had shelved the film, and the AP report noted that Driver found the decision mystifying given the appeal of a Soderbergh-directed ‘Star Wars’ movie. The reaction was strong enough that the cancelled film became one of the franchise’s most talked-about what-ifs.

Driver has also been candid about his own relationship with the saga. On the ‘SmartLess’ podcast, he said the studio is moving forward with new projects but not with him, and that he found the sets more exhausting than they needed to be because he hadn’t yet learned how to handle the momentum of such a large production. That honesty makes his latest comments land less like a bitter farewell and more like a shrug of acceptance.

The most telling part may be his refusal to slam the door entirely on Lucasfilm’s decision-making. By saying it’s not his call, Driver leaves the franchise’s future in Disney’s hands, while making it clear that he and his collaborators have already done everything they could.

For fans who hoped Ben Solo might get one more chapter, this is likely the clearest sign yet that the story ends where ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ left it. Whether Lucasfilm ever revisits the idea is another matter, but Driver has now made his position unmistakable. Unless something dramatic changes, the ‘Star Wars’ chapter of his career is closed.