STAR WARS Fans Fly Plane Over Disney Studio With “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” Banner
Star Wars fans have officially taken their frustration to the skies. After Adam Driver revealed that Disney rejected a standalone Star Wars movie centered on Kylo Ren, titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, a group of passionate fans decided to make their voices heard in the most dramatic way possible.
According to Collider, fans paid for a plane to fly a banner reading “Save The Hunt for Ben Solo” over Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Photos from the scene quickly went viral online, showing the message soaring above the studio where major decisions about the franchise are made.
Driver previously revealed that he spent two years developing the Ben Solo-focused film with Steven Soderbergh, working alongside the director’s longtime collaborators Rebecca Blunt (Logan Lucky) and Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!).
The movie was set after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and would have explored what happened to Ben Solo following his redemption.
“I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Driver said. “I had been talking about doing another one since 2021. Kathleen [Kennedy] had reached out. I always said: ‘With a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second.’ I loved that character and loved playing him.”
Driver described the script for The Hunt for Ben Solo as the “standard” of what a Star Wars film “should be,” comparing it to the “handmade and character-driven” nature of The Empire Strikes Back.
According to him, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Cary Beck at Lucasfilm were on board with the project, until it reached the desks of Bob Iger and Alan Bergman at Disney.
“We presented the script to Lucasfilm. They loved the idea,” Driver recalled. “They totally understood our angle and why we were doing it. We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, and they said no. They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that.”
That revelation didn’t sit well with fans, especially since Ben Solo remains one of the most beloved characters from the sequel trilogy. With The Rise of Skywalker marking the last time fans saw him, the idea of a redemption-focused, character-driven story sparked major excitement across the fandom.
Director Soderbergh also expressed regret that the film will never see the light of day. “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it,” he told the AP, with Driver adding that it was “one of the coolest scripts I had ever been a part of.”
The Star Wars movie landscape has been rocky since The Rise of Skywalker, with numerous projects delayed or scrapped altogether. Still, the franchise is finally returning to theaters next year with The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22, followed by Starfighter from Shawn Levy, starring Ryan Gosling, slated for May 28, 2027.
But for a lot of fans, that’s not enough. They want The Hunt for Ben Solo saved, and judging by the banner flying over Disney HQ, they’re not giving up without a fight. But, it seems like this is all just a waste of money because Lucasfilm has moved on from it. I’m sure the studio executives all had a good laugh at the banner.