By now news that Adam Driver was developing a Star Wars movie that would see the return of Ben Solo from the dead, The Hunt for Ben Solo, has taken the internet by storm. Though the film was fully backed by Lucasfilm brain trust with a finished script, director, and star all attached, Disney shot it down.
And I think this can help us make sense of what’s going on with another Star Wars movie.
At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that Daisy Ridley was returning to the franchise to reprise her role as Rey, a reveal met with great excitement. The movie will be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and follow Rey as she trains a new generation of Jedi. But the movie has not been moving along as quickly as expected, as there have been struggles to get the script right.
The movie, which is still set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, has gone through several different writers. Before it was ever announced at Celebration, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson were working on the script. But by the time of the official announcement, it was Steven Knight attached as the script writer. But by late 2024 Knight was no longer working on it, and it was reported early this year that George Nolfi is now writing it.
Now, we don’t know the full timeline of when Disney shot down The Hunt for Ben Solo, or other key details, so I’ll admit: this is just speculation. But it makes sense that this can help to explain why Lucasfilm has had more trouble getting the script right for this Rey movie, if they’ve been working on Ben Solo’s return only to change courses after Disney shot it down. Plot details for Driver’s movie have remained strictly under wraps (which is good news for all who hope it could eventually get made), but let’s be real: if the whole plot is about hunting for Ben Solo, who is it that would almost certainly be doing the hunting? It’s Rey! And with such a significant story having been developed, of the other half of the dyad being brought back, this would certainly have impacted plans for the movie starring Rey. How could it not?
Which means that now Lucasfilm has surely had to shift course a bit, revamping plans that were complicated by Disney’s foolishness. Ridley’s return as Rey is still happening, and this movie is still in development, but I think we can now better understand why it’s been taking longer than expected.
Star Wars Thoughts 