Regardless of which method you take a look at it, the “Star Wars” franchise has modified dramatically over the last 10 years, shifting from a collection based round cinematic occasions to a primarily streaming-only tv enterprise. Whereas Disney and Lucasfilm are placing “Star Wars” again into the cinema with the upcoming “Starfighter” and “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the previous remains to be an unknown amount, whereas the latter feels much less like an occasion and extra like a big-screen model of a small-screen present. Sadly, that is just about what we now have to work with, seeing as how the franchise has gone via a surprisingly giant variety of false begins and near-misses to finish up at these two future options.
A kind of near-misses has simply been revealed due to Adam Driver’s interview with AP Information, and it is a doozy. In keeping with the actor, who portrayed Kylo Ren née Ben Solo within the Sequel Trilogy, he and Lucasfilm had been engaged on a solo movie entitled “The Hunt for Ben Solo,” and the director that they had lined up was none aside from Academy Award Winner Steven Soderbergh. Somewhat than merely an idle pitch or kernel of an concept, plainly Soderbergh and Driver not solely had a accomplished script in hand but additionally the approval of Lucasfilm brass, together with Kathleen Kennedy. Nonetheless, once they introduced the challenge to Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman Alan Bergman, the executives turned down the concept outright for no higher cause than “they did not see how Ben Solo was alive,” as Driver defined. That is, to place it mildly, a bizarrely pedantic cause to cancel what probably would’ve been an enchanting, presumably even nice new “Star Wars” movie, and is a fairly good indication of why the franchise, because it stands, feels so creatively stagnant.
Driver and Soderbergh’s Ben Solo film had an thrilling crew connected
It is easy to know the sense of apathy many of us have about franchises as of late, because it seems like most new installments exist extra for the assured paychecks than any artistic ardour. But this was not the case with Driver:
“I at all times was fascinated with doing one other ‘Star Wars.’ I had been speaking about doing one other one since 2021. […] I at all times mentioned: With an excellent director and an excellent story, I would be there in a second. I liked that character and liked enjoying him.”
In keeping with Driver, he took his idea for the movie to Soderbergh (whom he labored with in “Logan Fortunate”), who then outlined a narrative with Rebecca Blunt (a pseudonym which probably belongs to Soderbergh’s spouse, Jules Asner) earlier than handing script duties to collaborator Scott Z. Burns. The consequence was invigorating, as Driver recalled:
“[It was] one of many coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been part of. We introduced the script to Lucasfilm. They liked the concept. They completely understood our angle and why we had been doing it. We took it to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman and so they mentioned no. […] And that was that.”
In a press release given to AP Information, Soderbergh echoed Driver’s sentiments with a heavy dose of remorse:
“I actually loved making the film in my head. I am simply sorry the followers will not get to see it.”
It is a disgrace that the movie did not occur, particularly when Soderbergh has been on a sizzling streak not too long ago, as his movies “Kimi,” “Presence,” and “Black Bag” have been praised for being exceptionally intelligent style movies. Had the director been let unfastened on “Star Wars,” we might have had the primary actually daring entry within the collection since “The Final Jedi.”
The dying of the Ben Solo film is yet one more occasion of the problems with kowtowing to terrible followers
Divorced from the information of the final a number of years of “Star Wars” discourse, there are numerous cases of supposedly lifeless characters coming again to life inside “Star Wars” itself (Ben Kenobi’s Pressure Ghost, as an illustration). Sadly, one in all probably the most controversial examples is of Emperor Palpatine’s return in “The Rise of Skywalker.” Criticisms of Palpatine’s return have principally revolved across the idea’s ham-fisted method of attempting to tie all three “Star Wars” trilogies collectively inside a single concluding chapter. But, due to the way in which discourse operates on social media — i.e., it turns into decreased to a single meme — it could possibly be interpreted that almost all followers’ situation with the resurrection of the character is that he was resurrected in any respect.
In different phrases, it is totally probably that Iger and Bergman had been petrified of one other “By some means, Palpatine returned” meme catching fireplace in the event that they introduced the apparently lifeless Ben Solo again for a post-“Rise of Skywalker” movie. In that case, then that is yet one more occasion of the “Star Wars” franchise meekly catering to the complaints of the loudest and most obnoxious followers, as seen within the case of “The Acolyte” and even “The Rise of Skywalker” itself. This, plus the lengthy checklist of cancelled initiatives with huge filmmakers, has turned “Star Wars” right into a depressingly risk-averse universe, with initiatives like “Andor” changing into the exception and never the norm. It is ironic, contemplating that George Lucas’ authentic 1977 movie was one of many largest dangers in cinema historical past. Although it is comprehensible why firm homeowners would not wish to rock any boats, these in command of the galaxy far, distant would do effectively to be much less involved with pleasing a number of the folks all the time.
