Dave Filoni Says the Force Isn’t With Adam Driver’s THE HUNT FOR BEN SOLO Movie

Hope has always been baked into Star Wars, and some fans are hanging onto plenty of it when it comes to Adam Driver returning as Ben Solo.

Unfortunately, Lucasfilm co-President Dave Filoni doesn’t have particularly encouraging news for anyone waiting to see The Hunt for Ben Solo make its way back onto the studio’s slate.

With The Mandalorian and Grogu finishing its theatrical run at $345 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars movie, questions about the franchise’s big-screen future aren’t going away.

One of the biggest among a very passionate corner of the fanbase remains whether Disney and Lucasfilm might reconsider Driver’s proposed Ben Solo movie.

Deadline caught up with Filoni at D23 and asked if Kylo Ren could still make a comeback. His response was pretty definitive:

“It’s not here, you won’t find it here,” said Filoni, “The force is not with us in that regard; I love the love you feel for it.”

That probably isn’t what the Save Ben Solo crowd wanted to hear.

Driver revealed in October 2025 that he and director Steven Soderbergh had been developing The Hunt for Ben Solo, a movie that would have picked up after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker and followed the former Kylo Ren on a path of redemption.

The project ultimately hit a wall with former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-Chairman Alan Bergman.

According to the details that emerged, the big sticking point was fairly straightforward: Ben Solo died at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, and they couldn’t get past the question of how he could continue his story after that.

Of course, this is Star Wars, a franchise where death has occasionally turned out to be more of an inconvenience than a permanent condition.

Darth Maul came back after being sliced in half and falling down a seemingly bottomless shaft. Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc. Emperor Palpatine returned after being tossed down a Death Star reactor shaft and subsequently exploding.

So, naturally, Ben Solo fans aren’t exactly convinced that death should be the dealbreaker here.

In fact, they’ve mounted one hell of a campaign trying to convince Disney to give The Hunt for Ben Solo another shot.

Following a Disney earnings call last November, a plane flew over the company’s Burbank lot carrying a banner that read, “Shareholders Want The Hunt for Ben Solo.”

The Save Ben Solo organization then cranked things up considerably. In March, professional skydiver Brenn Richards jumped from a plane as part of a Toronto Comic-Con stunt while carrying a “Save the Hunt for Ben Solo” flag.

She also carried a message aimed at Disney’s new CEO: “Josh D’Amaro, Skydiving is risky! but…The Hunt for Ben Solo isn’t!”

The campaign eventually made its way to Hollywood. During the Mandalorian and Grogu Los Angeles premiere in May, the group hired a digital truck to drive around Hollywood promoting the movie.

It returned outside the El Capitan Theatre for the film’s May 21 opening night and later showed up at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Another professional skydiver even took part in a campaign stunt in Times Square.

Whatever you think about Ben Solo coming back, you’ve got to give these fans credit for commitment. They really want this movie.

For now, though, The Hunt for Ben Solo isn’t part of Lucasfilm’s current plans. Whether that remains permanent is another question entirely.

Star Wars has resurrected enough characters over the decades that it would be difficult to declare any character completely off the table forever.

Disney and Lucasfilm might not be interested right now, but some fans clearly aren’t ready to let Ben Solo fade away as a force ghost.

Via: Deadline