Kathleen Kennedy Reportedly Retiring from Lucasfilm

The powerhouse producing veteran has guided the ‘Star Wars’ universe in particular for the last 13 years, and appears to be ready to focus on other projects.

President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

Preview:

Kathleen Kennedy will reportedly leave Lucasfilm this year.
She’s been the main guiding hand for Star Wars for more than a decade.
The news is, however, not official.

If this news pans out, we could, to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi in ‘Star Wars,’ feel a great disturbance in the fandom force, as if millions (well, thousands) of voices that cried out in anger were suddenly silenced.

Because according to Puck, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, who has been overseeing the galaxy far, far away on screens big and small, is reportedly ready to step down.

We’ll caution at this point, that the news is still within the realm of speculation, though the Puck article mentions that Kennedy has been doing plenty that suggests she’s ready to switch her focus away from leading Lucasfilm, including selling property in Malibu, near Los Angeles, and collecting a host of career awards.

(L-R) Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Deborah Chow, Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm, Ewan McGregor, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Hayden Christensen attend the studio showcase panel at Star Wars Celebration for "Obi-Wan Kenobi" in Anaheim, California on May 26, 2022. The series streams exclusively on Disney+. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).

Kennedy, who turns 72 this year, is also likely looking to work on projects that don’t generate the ire that more recent developments in ‘Star Wars’ fandom have (let’s be honest here –– whoever takes over the job assuming she departs is unlikely to stop hearing from dissatisfied fans) and instead return to working more as a producer alongside husband and business partner Frank Marshall.

After all, she had a long-established career producing a variety of movies before Kennedy joined Lucasfilm in 2012 as co-chair alongside ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas.

Shortly after, Lucas exited his post as Disney acquired the company for $4 billion, and Kennedy was elevated to president.

Since then, she has steered the franchise ship through highs (the $2 billion success of ‘The Force Awakens,’ the small screen universe-building of ‘The Mandalorian’) and lows (‘Solo: A Star Wars Story,’ lesser-performing Disney+ series such as ‘The Acolyte’).

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We’ll have to wait for Kennedy to truly announce whether she’s leaving the company –– the Puck story makes mention of her looking to go last year, even going so far as to set up an exit interview with a journalist, before opting to stay longer.

Transitioning to someone else this year makes some sense since it’s a relatively quiet period for ‘Star Wars’ –– only ‘Andor’ season 2 and some shows for younger viewers are scheduled, and it won’t be back on the big screen until Jon Favreau’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ in 2026.

As for who might succeed her? Dave Filoni surely seems like the logical person since he ascended to chief creative officer in 2023. But he may want to stay more closely involved with writing and directing projects himself and leave the business side to someone else.

What does the future hold for ‘Star Wars’?

‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Concept Art courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ is first among ‘Star Wars’ equals right now, having shot last year and now speeding through post-production for a release next year.

‘Mandalorian’ co-creator and fellow steward Filoni is still putting the pieces together for his own film, and more recently, we learned that one with Shawn Levy in the director’s chair took a leap towards hyperspace thanks to Ryan Gosling entering talks to star.

Jonathan Tropper, who collaborated with Levy on films such as ‘This is Where I Leave You’ and ‘The Adam Project,’ has been working on that script for over a year. Levy is also producing the feature via his 21 Laps banner.

The time period for the potential new offering is unknown, though it reportedly charts its own course and doesn’t feature anyone from the Skywalker saga, with the emphasis on this being a standalone adventure.

Then there’s James Mangold’s film, which explores the origins of the Jedi and early force users and is awaiting a release date.

(L to R) Director James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

And not forgetting Simon Kinberg, who was reported last November as working on his own planned trilogy.

While Filoni is still going full speed ahead on his movie, he’s also been busy figuring out a second season of ‘Ahsoka.’

Here’s what he said about that:

“I’m so well into that as well… I’ve been writing it, and I’m still the single writer on it, and so I’ve been enjoying doing that, but it's a challenge, of course, and working some of these arcs through has been a challenge and making sure it's all going to come out in a way that I think is exciting for fans. I know that they’re interested in where some of the things I developed in Season One. I’m pretty happy with it… Love working with Rosario [Dawson], so I can’t wait to get back to that.”

‘Andor’s second season, meanwhile, premieres on April 22nd, and it’ll be divided into four three-episode chapters.

Beyond those, there are several movies (and potential trilogies) which don’t seem to be moving forward and may have been scrapped altogether, including new potential movies from ‘The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson (who is busy with his ‘Knives Out’ movies and may not wish to dip back into the toxic stew of ‘Star Wars’ fandom after the divisive reaction to his first effort) and ‘Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins, who had a much-touted ‘Rogue Squadron’ story of rebel pilots that appears to have had trouble leaving the development hanger.

When will the next ‘Star Wars’ movie be in theaters?

So far, only ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ has a confirmed release date, that being May 22nd, 2026.

Disney and Lucasfilm do have an untitled ‘Star Wars’ movie on their release calendar for December 17th, 2027, though the companies have yet to reveal which of the developing projects will take that spot.