Stephen Soderbergh Rightfully Salty With Disney Over Ben Solo Movie

When I first watched The Rise of Skywalker, I was pretty defensive. A couple of years had already been spent defending The Last Jedi online from C.H.U.D.S., with whom I was Facebook friends because we went to High School together (one of whom I’ve learned has turned into a proper white supremacist, which tracks because he has no chin). In hindsight, it was a wasted endeavor, but I wasn’t going to sit back and listen to those same people sully this new Star Wars movie that was going to satisfyingly conclude the sequel trilogy. I was… incorrect.

I saw the film again a week or so later and practically sank in my seat from embarrassment. The sheen of seeing it the first time with friends and family at my hometown movie theater had worn off, and I was stuck rewatching an absolute dud of a film. They find Palpatine because of a knife? Also, he has a granddaughter, but we learn nothing about his son?! They pretend Rey killed Chewie, and we find out that wasn’t true before the characters do, completely undercutting the tension of the moment?!? Fah! I haven’t watched it since that second time, and I don’t plan to do so again until it’s time for my kids to see it.

But I would watch a sequel. The problems with Rise of Skywalker are not the fault of the actors and characters involved. They were the result of a studio losing its nerve and deciding to abandon ship because said aforementioned C.H.U.D.S. were loud and amplified by different media outlets. Give that material over to a talented creator who’s ready to take risks and has a proven track record, and, baby, you’ve got a stew going. Shockingly, that’s what Disney did.

Adam Driver, Stephen Soderbergh, and Rebecca Blunt were working on a sequel to the newest trilogy called the Hunt for Ben Solo. Driver had planned to return for the film, which would center around his character’s continuing adventures post-redemption. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “No! He’s dead! You can’t do that!” Just kidding. You wouldn’t think that because you’re not an idiot, and this is a franchise in which characters cheat death all the time. But Disney (or, more specifically, Bob Iger) thinks you’re an idiot and decided to scrap the film for that reason, and Stephen Soderbergh is rightfully still pissed.

“We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and [writer] Rebecca Blunt,” the director explained in an interview with BK Mag (via THR). “When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, ‘Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.’ The stated reason was, ‘We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.’ And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.”

As Soderbergh explains, Driver was the one who told the public about the movie’s fate. We didn’t even know it was a thing before that. Later, Kathleen Kennedy would heap praise on the script, as she jumped ship for greener pastures and a less obnoxious fanbase. The whole ordeal is incredibly frustrating and dumb, much like The Rise of Skywalker. Soderbergh went on to say that he had already made the movie in his head, and that he was bummed no one would get to see it. Same, Stephen. Same.