Former Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is feeling “relief” after stepping away from the “Star Wars” franchise. George Lucas handpicked the longtime producer to lead the company after he sold it to Disney in 2012. The franchise has faced heavy criticism during her tenure, especially over the sequel trilogy, which began with 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and ended with 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Kathleen Kennedy Addresses The ‘Incredible Challenge’ She Faced At Lucasfilm
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at Bloomberg’s annual Screentime event in Los Angeles, Kathleen Kennedy was asked about how she felt after guiding Lucasfilm for the past fourteen years.
“I suppose there’s a bit of relief,” she said. “These jobs are not easy, and stepping into something like that that George had created was an incredible challenge.”
She also pushed back on the widely held belief that Lucas had handed her his own ideas for the sequel trilogy. Kennedy claimed Lucas told her, “it’s all here,” while pointing to her head, prompting her to respond, “I said, okay, well that’s going to be interesting to try and mine that.” She also said Lucas gave her “a couple of paragraphs” of story ideas, but no official treatments.
Kennedy Shares The ‘Toughest Thing’ About Her Job
While speaking to Brad Stone, the editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, she also addressed the “toughest” aspect of her job at Lucasfilm.
“Well, I think that that’s the challenge that all franchises [face], certainly something that’s been around now for 50 years. You’ve got people where this means a lot to them,” she said. “But at the same time, the challenge is to try to create something new, something original. So finding that balance is really the toughest thing.”
She also said that she needed to pay attention to fans “without making that be a referendum.”
Kathleen Kennedy Shares What Aspects Of The Job She’s Most Proud Of
Kennedy went on to say she was pleased with how she handled the relaunch of the film franchise, starting with 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” This was followed by 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” 2017’s “The Last Jedi,” 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” and 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” That became the last “Star Wars” film to hit theaters until the release of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” in May 2026.
Kennedy said she was also proudest of the release of “Andor” and “The Mandalorian,” two of the most successful Disney+ series released during her tenure. However, she didn’t get specific about any shows, like “The Acolyte” or “The Book of Boba Fett,” that she might have regretted.
“I mean, I don’t think you can do anything in terms of the movie business where every single thing is going to be a perfect hit,” she said instead. “I think you learn things, I always like learning things from the movies that we do, the postmortems we do on what worked, what didn‘t. But I’m always proud of the work that’s been done.”
Kennedy Briefly Addressed The Turmoil Behind ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’
In 2017, Kennedy removed Phil Lord and Chris Miller from “Solo: A Star Wars Story” over creative differences. Ron Howard was later brought in to clean up the film before its 2018 release. When asked what that situation was like, Kennedy replied, “Well, that really only happened once, thank god.”
However, she also sidelined director Gareth Edwards when it came time to finish 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Tony Gilroy, who later worked on both seasons of “Andor,” was brought in to finish the project.
“I wasn’t required to do that. There are many complicated situations that develop that certainly reach a point where you have to make a difficult decision like that,” Kennedy said. “Certainly, my track record shows that I’ve worked with a lot of different directors, I’ve made many kinds of movies, and I’ve never been in a situation like that.”
Kathleen Kennedy Still Feels This Is What George Wanted
When Disney bought the company for $4.05 billion in 2012, no one could have predicted how poorly the sequel trilogy would be received. However, Kennedy maintained that this is what Lucas wanted.
“I think Star Wars was a perfect acquisition for Disney, and it’s what George wanted,” she said. “There was no other company he wanted to sell the franchise to other than Disney.”
Since she stepped down, longtime “Star Wars” chief creative officer Dave Filoni and executive Lynwen Brennan have taken over Kennedy’s role. However, she is still producing “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which is scheduled for release in May 2027.
