Daisy Ridley Weighs in on Canceled Star Wars Film The Hunt for Ben Solo, Cheers Fan Campaign to Bring It Back

So, Daisy Ridley knew whispers were floating around about that scrapped Star Wars movie, 'The Hunt for Ben Solo,' before Adam Driver said it out loud. And she’s pretty into how fans have handled it since he did.

How we got here

• Since 2021, Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh had been developing a Ben Solo movie, with Scott Z. Burns writing the script (he wrote Soderbergh’s pandemic thriller 'Contagion').
• Lucasfilm was reportedly into the idea.
• Disney leadership was not. CEO Bob Iger and Disney Studios co-chairman Alan Bergman didn’t buy the premise because they didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive after 'The Rise of Skywalker.'
• In October, Driver publicly revealed the project and its fate.
• Fans pushed back with a campaign to resurrect it, even flying a '#SaveTheHuntForBenSolo' banner over Disney Studios in California. Subtle, it was not.

Ridley on hearing it and the fan energy

Ridley told IGN she’d heard rumblings through friends on crews, but still did a double take when Driver was the one to spill it: basically, 'Wait, Adam said it?' She didn’t know the whole story until it hit the press.

'I do love when there is a collective of positivity.'

She called the response 'lovely' — not just because Ben/Kylo was wildly popular, but because people from all over actually rallied for one thing without the usual sniping. In her words, in a time that feels pretty nuts for everyone, seeing fans unite for something they care about was surprisingly joyful.

And yeah, that banner stunt? You can roll your eyes, but it’s hard to argue fans didn’t make their point loud and clear.

What’s next in the galaxy

Whether 'The Hunt for Ben Solo' ever gets a second life is up to the same folks who slammed the brakes the first time. For now, the next movie on the calendar is 'The Mandalorian and Grogu,' hitting theaters May 22, 2026.