Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s Official Future With Studio Revealed

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Kathleen Kennedy is leaving her position as President of Lucasfilm, bringing an end to her 14-year run with the studio. She took on the role just before Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas. While reports suggested she might stay until late 2025 or 2026 to finish projects like the theatrical film based on The Mandalorian & Grogu, her departure is now official. During her time, the Star Wars universe grew significantly with the launch of streaming series, achieving huge financial success but also facing creative hurdles and disagreements among fans.

In a statement announcing her departure, Kathleen Kennedy reflected on her time at Lucasfilm. She said that when George Lucas brought her on to lead the company after his retirement, she didn’t know what to expect. She expressed gratitude for the past decade working with the talented people at Lucasfilm, praising their creativity and commitment, and shared her pride in their collective achievements. She’s looking forward to continuing to create films and television series with both familiar colleagues and new storytellers who will shape the future of the industry.

Over a decade ago, when Disney bought Lucasfilm, they gained access to a legendary storytelling world and a talented team, including a filmmaker personally chosen by George Lucas. Disney CEO Bob Iger expressed deep gratitude for Kathleen Kennedy’s leadership and her careful guidance of the iconic studio and brand.

Dave Filoni, a key figure in the Star Wars universe, shared how George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy inspired his passion for storytelling and filmmaking. He feels fortunate to have learned from both of them and praised Kennedy for spearheading the biggest expansion of Star Wars stories on screen, including characters like Rey and Grogu. Filoni expressed his gratitude to Kennedy, Lucas, Bob Iger, and Alan Bergman for trusting him to lead Lucasfilm, a job he deeply enjoys. He concluded with a hopeful ‘May the Force be with you.’

Kathleen Kennedy’s departure completes a leadership change that many in the industry had been expecting for months. Although Kennedy had mentioned earlier this year that Disney was preparing for a transition, she indicated it wouldn’t happen right away. Now that her departure is confirmed, it’s clear the change is happening sooner than people initially thought, based on her previous comments and reports.

Now that Kathleen Kennedy has stepped down, everyone is focused on who will take over as head of Lucasfilm. Many believe Dave Filoni, who currently oversees creative efforts and has been vital to the success of recent Star Wars shows on streaming, is the most likely candidate, though this hasn’t been confirmed. Whoever takes the job will be managing several projects already underway. Filming recently finished on Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, which is scheduled for release in May 2026. Shawn Levy is also preparing Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, for a May 2027 release. Keeping these major films on schedule will be a key challenge during this transition.

Kennedy’s Controversial Legacy: From The Mandalorian Triumph to Box Office Struggles

Kathleen Kennedy’s time at Lucasfilm was marked by both success and controversy. Chosen by George Lucas in 2012, she led the company through its $4 billion purchase by Disney and dramatically expanded the world of Star Wars. A key achievement was her focus on creating premium content for the Disney+ streaming service.

Lucasfilm, starting with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, created a major cultural hit that became the main attraction for their new streaming service. The show quickly won fans with the character Grogu (known as “Baby Yoda”) and received positive reviews, demonstrating that Star Wars could work well as an episodic series. This success continued with Andor, which critics praised for its sophisticated themes and intricate plots. In theaters, Kathleen Kennedy oversaw the release of the sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker), which earned an impressive $4.47 billion globally and successfully brought Star Wars to a new audience.

Despite his successes, Kennedy’s time leading Lucasfilm wasn’t without its challenges. The sequel trilogy, while profitable, caused a lot of disagreement among fans, particularly due to creative choices in The Last Jedi and the way the story unfolded in The Rise of Skywalker. Attempts to move beyond the main Star Wars saga films also hit a snag with Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was the first film in the franchise to be financially unsuccessful. More recently, some TV series like The Acolyte haven’t attracted enough viewers and were cancelled shortly after release.

Lucasfilm struggled with some of its other popular franchises as well. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, for example, earned mixed reviews and didn’t make back its substantial production costs, bringing in only $384 million worldwide. The Disney+ series Willow, a continuation of the 1988 movie, was also cancelled after a single season. Under Kennedy’s direction, many planned film projects faced problems, with several – including those intended to be directed by Rian Johnson, Patty Jenkins, and Kevin Feige – either being delayed indefinitely or cancelled altogether.

We’d love to hear your take on Kathleen Kennedy’s time as president of Lucasfilm. And who would you choose to run the studio going forward? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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2026-01-16 01:40