Last fall, news broke that Adam Driver was all set to return to the Star Wars franchise as Ben Solo, only for the project to get shot down by Disney executives.
Driver worked with acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh on the project, titled The Hunt for Ben Solo. Scott Z. Burns was hired to write the script – reportedly being paid $3 million to write it, making him the highest-paid script-writer by Lucasfilm. That level of investment and proposal is significant, with the movie having an established director, an established star, and a finished script. Lucasfilm leadership was on board and enthusiastic with it, including then-President Kathleen Kennedy, current President Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck.
But for the first and only time in Kennedy’s tenure as Lucasfilm President, a finished movie script was rejected by Disney leadership. Namely, according to Adam Driver, it was rejected by CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman of Disney Entertainment Alan Bergman.
According to a report by The Playlist, Bergman took an unusually long amount of time reading the script, and his concerns (echoed by Iger) were about how Ben Solo could be alive after the ending of The Rise of Skywalker. This surprised Lucasfilm leadership, as they felt the story they had developed provided a good answer for this. But in the end, Disney said no. It sounds like insiders felt this was a political move, as Iger was trying to promote Bergman in the consideration for Disney’s next CEO. But it seems perhaps the opposite has happened: this issue was one alongside a series of them, apparently, that prompted questions and criticisms from those within Disney over how Bergman was handling high-profile decisions.
From that point forward Bergman’s position seemed weakened, and in the end the Disney board selected Parks chairman Josh D’Amaro as CEO, with Dana Walden promoted to become Disney’s first ever President and chief creative officer. Walden had ran Disney Entertainment alongside Bergman, focusing on TV and streaming while Bergman focused on film.
But now, moving forward, both Disney and Lucasfilm have fresh leadership – and Lucasfilm’s fresh leadership was very supportive of The Hunt for Ben Solo. In an exit interview with Deadline, Kathy Kennedy didn’t close the door on that movie quite yet, saying, “It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
Alan Bergman was unwilling to take a risk or think creatively about the future of Star Wars, but he was passed over for the role of Disney CEO. He won’t be setting the company’s direction moving forward, and if D’Amaro, Walden, and Filoni want to bring back a fan favorite character, perhaps now is the time to do it. We can hope, at least: no one’s ever really gone.
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