Kathleen Kennedy has clarified the rumors of her Lucasfilm exit so what is going on?
For the last few days, Star Wars fans have been abuzz with rumors that Kathleen Kennedy is leaving as the head of Lucasfilm. The longtime producer took over the reins when Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 and has been guiding the various projects since.
A lot has been debated about Kennedy’s tenure. Star Wars has seen huge success with the sequel trilogy and expanding on Disney+, with The Mandalorian, Ashoka, and Andor receiving huge acclaim.
On the flip side, there’s been criticism (much of it very heavy) on the direction of the franchise as well as Lucasfilm properties like Indiana Jones and Willow. The flops of the last Indiana Jones movie and the numerous stalled or canceled Star Wars projects have led many to think that a change is needed.
So folks were all over the news broken by Puck’s Matt Belloni (a man who has been, shall we say, strident in his criticism of Kennedy over the years) that Kennedy was leaving Lucasfilm by the end of this year. Some went so far as to claim she was openly fired or at least pressured to resign.
That set off a firestorm of talk on who can take over Lucasfilm and the direction of Star Wars, including from us. Well, Kennedy is clarifying things in a new extensive interview with Deadline.
Is Kennedy quitting?
The interview has Kennedy making it clear she’s not planning to retire from movies but is making plans for a possible successor.
“I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring. What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both [Disney’s] Bob [Iger] and Alan [Bergman] about what eventual succession might look like. We’ve been talking about [succession], as I said, nonstop for the last couple of years because for obvious reasons, I’m not going to be here forever. George [Lucas] asked me 13 years ago to step in, and now I’m looking at who’s going to replace me. And as I said, we have a bench of people internally to handle the business, the creative side. The job has grown also since I stepped in. There was no streaming, there weren’t a lot of the things that we’re involved in right now going on. So it has grown.”
Kennedy didn't give hints on who will take over for her despite how many assume Dave Filoni is next in line. She merely indicated it's a long process to find the right pick.
Some may argue that this is damage control to cover a firing, yet it’s too common for studio heads to make such succession plans, often years before they actually step down. Disney has billions invested in Star Wars; they’re not going to make some rash decision of firing the woman who’s been leading it for over a decade without a definite plan in place for who will take over.
Note that Kennedy said she was never retiring from movies, not being a studio chief. It could be that Kennedy makes for a fine producer (as her record of mega-hits with Steven Spielberg proves), yet not all producers are cut out to be executives, another common occurrence. While Kennedy does get praise from those who work with her, Disney may want someone who can handle the franchises better.
Kennedy also stridently said she was not being “pushed out” and that she felt more pressure on Star Wars than other franchises. That is a good point as Star Wars is held so highly in regard because of its culture-changing success that any news about it is going to get press, often before the truth is known.
Kennedy “wanted to play it safe” by hinting that there are currently “three or four” Star Wars projects on the development slate. Besides the upcoming Mandalorian movie and second seasons of Andor and Ashoka, there are the planned films by Shawn Levy, James Mangold and the new trilogy with Daisy Ridley as Rey.
So, for now, Kennedy is staying put at Lucasfilm although plans are underway for a successor. Yet her touch will still be on Star Wars for a while as the drama about her tenure is outdoing what’s on screen.
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