Kathleen Kennedy Exits
Kathleen Kennedy is leaving this year, maybe in weeks: Lucasfilm’s head looks to be charting her course for retirement. With Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni finally putting on the captain’s hat.
Long taking the brunt of the internet’s ire, Kennedy has not had a stellar record in her time at Lucasfilm: Indiana Jones 5, the recent Star Wars trilogy, and the Acolyte series.
The loudest of nerds have been wanting this for years. And while there were some bright spots, these franchises under Lucasfilm are all in varying states of disarray. Star Wars is a shell of its former self, and it seems like a lot of the creative decisions and constant firing and rehiring, the strange choices of subject matter all fall at her feet.
Flashback a decade or so, and Kathleen Kennedy is a superstar producer responsible for E.T. (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), and Twister (1996). When George Lucas sold off Star Wars, he left Kennedy in charge. Fans were hesitant. Kennedy had already been involved in previous Lucasfilm efforts that began showing warning signs even before the Disney sell-off. But fans nevertheless remained hopeful that she might be able to bring Star Wars back to its glory days.
But as the slate of Star Wars films and series started to roll out, the quality and the spirit of Star Wars strained and suffered. Massive damage was done by just how terrible Rise of Skywalker (2019) was, and with the most recent Acolyte (2024) series getting canceled before it even finished airing, things are looking uncertain for the once-beloved series.
While Kennedy deserves the dignity of going out on her own terms, the day she leaves is a welcome to many.