Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that she will retire from the company at the end of 2025.
Kennedy and George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, co-chaired Lucasfilm in 2012. A few months later, Kennedy assumed leadership of the firm after Lucas left and Disney paid $4 billion to acquire it. She revitalized the property as a big-screen brand by starting with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which made over $2 billion worldwide. From 2015 to 2019, Disney produced a Star Wars movie year before pausing after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was met with mixed reviews and pulled in just half as much as Force Awakens had a few years prior.
Kennedy had one of the most prominent and most watched positions in Hollywood as the head of Lucasfilm, and things weren’t always easy. In the midst of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s production, she sacked Phil Miller and Chris Lord as directors. (The movie later became the first Star Wars film to be a box office failure.) Additionally, she replaced Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with Tony Gilroy, who was hired to manage reshoots. In the end, the movie made $1 billion. Other projects were promised that never materialized, such as Rian Johnson’s trilogy, and another one overseen by Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Benioff and David Weiss. Nearly two years have passed since the announcement of Daisy Ridley’s return to Star Wars, though there has been no progress report made since.
However, despite Star Wars’ difficulties making a comeback on the big screen, the brand gained fresh life on Disney+, as The Mandalorian and the streaming service were released in November 2019. It became a huge success and gave rise to several spinoffs, such as the highly regarded Andor, which will return for a second season in April, as well as a number of shows that fell flat and raised concerns about the Star Wars brand being diluted. The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau, will be released by Lucasfilm on May 22, 2026. This will be the franchise’s first big-screen appearance since Rise of Skywalker.
With collaborations on films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Gremlins (1984), The Color Purple (1985), The Goonies (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990), and the Indiana Jones films, which culminated with last year’s Dial of Destiny, Kennedy’s illustrious career includes work with both Steven Spielberg and her husband, Frank Marshall. She has been nominated for eight Oscars and has produced or executive produced almost 70 films overall.
Speculation as to who will replace Kennedy will likely run rampant, though Favreau and current Kucasfilm Chief creative officer Dave Filoni are likely the top candidates.
Source: Puck