As was foretold, Kathleen Kennedy officially announced that she was stepping down as President of Lucasfilm, turning the keys over to Lynwen Brennan and Dave Filoni. Filoni, the creator behind a pair of beloved animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and the live-action streaming series Ahsoka, has served as Lucasfilm’s Chief Creative Office since November 2023 and will remain in command of the “creative direction of the franchise in film, television, and any other platforms in the galaxy.” Brennan, who was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lucasfilm by Kennedy in 2015, is expected to continue coordinating the business side of things for the studio
Kennedy‘s career at Lucasfilm began in 2012 when she was handpicked by George Lucas to serve as co-chair before the company’s acquisition by The Walt Disney Company. Following the sale, she was promoted to President, overseeing Lucasfilm’s primary divisions, including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound. Under her leadership, the studio revitalized the Star Wars franchise, launching a sequel trilogy that began with the record-breaking The Force Awakens (2015) and continued with The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Beyond the Skywalker Saga, Kennedy shepherded standalone “anthology” films such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) as well as the return of another iconic Lucasfilm property with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
In addition to her work in feature films, Kennedy spearheaded Lucasfilm’s expansion into streaming through Disney+. She served as executive producer on critically acclaimed and award-winning live-action series, most notably The Mandalorian, which debuted in 2019, and the Emmy-winning Andor. In an exit interview with Deadline, Kennedy gave a glimpse into the future of Star Wars, which looks quite different than it did three years ago.
Star Wars Celebration 2023 seemed to stand as a pivot point for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars brand. Films by Dave Filoni, James Mangold and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy were announced, promising an exciting return to theaters after an uncomfortable absence. The studio rolled out a brand new timeline which included two new eras (Dawn of the Jedi and New Jedi Order) set to be explored in upcoming films and an old fan favorite that has so far been absent from Lucasfilm’s live-action projects (The Old Republic). Nearly three years later, none of those projects have gone into production, having been passed in the queue by Jon Favreau‘s The Mandalorian and Grogu.
In her interview, Kennedy updated the status of Mangold’s “Jedi Prime” film (it is not the update you were looking for) while Filoni and Obaid-Chinoy‘s projects went unmentioned.
“Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold,” Kennedy revealed. She also provided updates on a trio of projects that fans likely thought were long dead, including the recently revealed Kylo Ren film.
“Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script,” said Kennedy. “And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
However, Kennedy went on to clarify that fans should not expect any of those films to be starting down the production pipeline soon. “Mangold’s is really on the back burner as is Soderbergh’s. I think the ones by Taika and Donald are still somewhat alive. That’s going to really be up to the new team to figure out,” she said.
Instead, a new trilogy of films written by Simon Kinberg, rumored to be part of a full slate of New Jedi Order-era storytelling, looks to be set up as the immediate future of the franchise.
“He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there,” said Kennedy of Kinberg. “We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.”
While that’s not exactly the vote of confidence fans were hoping for given the skepticism that met the announcement of Kinberg ‘s trilogy, it does sound as though the studio plans to go into production on the first film in the near-ish future while pushing the sequels out in relatively short order.
“I know that Dave and Lynwen are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next,” explained Kennedy.
Kennedy also revealed that a heavy dose of succession planning took up quite a bit of bandwidth over the last two years. With a plan now in place, perhaps Brennan and Filoni will find a way to get the franchise’s film studio running smoothly again.
Source: Deadline
