When Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012, Hollywood executive Kathleen Kennedy — who had produced movies like The Goonies, The Color Purple and Lincoln over the years — was his hand-picked successor. Since then, her record among fans has been mixed; reactions to the Star Wars sequel trilogy were divided and there were well-publicized production problems on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story. On the other hand, Rogue One got a lot of acclaim, and Kennedy and company started off the burgeoning Star Wars Television Universe right with The Mandalorian.
And Kennedy will continue in her role as the president of Lucasfilm for at least a few more years, as Collider reports that Disney has renewed her contract through 2024. As much flak as she’s gotten from fans over the years, it’s clear that the Disney brass has faith in her.
And really, however much some fans ragged on The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, they did both make over a billion dollars at the box office, and ultimately we know that’s all Disney really cares about, right? And like I said, the Star Wars TV efforts have been more successful generally, with series like The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Visions getting pretty warm receptions.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron reportedly delayed over “creative differences
Kennedy has plans for a lot more Star Wars TV, too. An Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen is generating a lot of hype, as is The Book of Boba Fett, which premieres in December. Then there’s the show about Ahsoka Tano, one about Cassian Andor, a brand new series called The Acolyte…and Taika Waititi and Kevin Feige are both working on Star Wars movies. Kennedy and friends will have a lot of chances to win people over in the next couple of years.
That said, there have been hiccups. The firing of Gina Carano threw a wrench into some of Disney’s plans, and it’s rumored that Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie was delayed over “creative differences.” But we don’t know if this is evidence of mismanagement or the inevitable stumbles you’re going to encounter when you manage a multibillion dollar entertainment empire. It’s not like Marvel boss Kevin Feige is immune to this kind of stuff over in the MCU; folks were just talking about Doctor Strange 2 going through extensive reshoots. So we’ll see what the future brings.
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