After being rumored for months, with chatter reaching deafening levels over the last few days, Kathleen Kennedy’s departure from Lucasfilm is now official. Kennedy will be stepping down as president of Lucasfilm this week. Dave Filoni, who has been serving as the Chief Creative Officer and heart of the Star Wars brand, will be elevated to President. This is a long time coming and nobody is surprised by it.
Filoni is a creative guy, and he’ll remain in that role primarily. As such, he’ll be teamed with Lynwen Brennan, the current president and GM on Lucasfilm’s business side.
It’s tough to knock Filoni’s credentials. He has been a fan-favorite creator ever since George Lucas tapped him to shepherd Star Wars: The Clone Wars, both the TV series and the film version. Filoni is also creator of the hit Disney+ series Ahsoka, while an exec-producer on The Mandalorian, Skeleton Crew, The Book of Boba Fett, and the beloved Star Wars Rebels.
Kennedy’s run has been a mixed bag, plagued with projects that would be announced then go nowhere. She scored a $2B hit with The Force Awakens in 2015, but then saw the numbers dwindle to $1.2B for The Last Jedi, and finally just $1B for The Rise of Skywalker as fans rebelled against a schizophrenic creative direction. Along with the flop that was Solo: A Star Wars Story, there just hasn’t been much to write home about on the big screen. That could all change with the relase of The Mandalorian & Grogu later this year. Ultimately, the most revered film released during Kennedy’s tenure was Rogue One, and that went through a mountain of creative upheaval first.
On the TV side, Kennedy did take Andor to great critical acclaim, but failures such as The Acolyte and The Book of Boba Fett loom large.
Kennedy’s departure leaves open a ton of projects from top creators that might be quietly canceled, including films from Taika Waititi, Donald Glover, and James Mangold.
