It’s official: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as overseer of the Star Wars franchise.
After months of speculation, Kennedy’s 14-year tenure at the helm of the Disney subsidiary – and, by proxy, his tenure at the helm of its flagship sci-fi property – will soon end. Kennedy’s impending departure was first announced on the official Star Wars website last night (January 15).
The rule of two
Filoni and Brennan clearly have the talent, dedication, expertise and fanatical affection for the Star Wars universe that should help usher in a new era of original storytelling.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that this will be the case. Since Filoni joined Lucasfilm to direct Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘, the big Star Wars fan is becoming more and more involved in the direction of the franchise. Its influence has been most notable in the streaming era, with Filoni creating and executive producing many Disney+ shows amid the explosion of the streaming industry and the subsequent race between studios for viewers’ attention.
Not every project was a success (more on that later). However, Filoni has helped oversee critically acclaimed and/or wildly popular small screen projects, including Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batchand of course, The Mandalorian.
Brennan’s career at Lucasfilm, spanning more than 25 years, was less forward-looking than that of his new presidential partner at the studio, but it nonetheless represented an impressive rise through the ranks for the company stalwart. Having initially joined Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic division in 1999, Brennan became an executive of said sub-company in 2009, before being promoted to General Manager of Lucasfilm in 2015. Eleven years after her last career advancement, Brennan is now ready to use her obvious leadership and business skills to co-lead the place she has called home for 27 years.
Will the Force awaken under the leadership of Filoni and Brennan?
Set as Filoni and Brennan will undoubtedly take over Lucasfilm, there is no denying that they are taking over an incredibly popular franchise that has lost its way in recent years.
For starters, it’s been eight years since the last Star Wars movie – the overly cautious and predictable film The Rise of Skywalker – was released in theaters. And, although this break from the big screen will end in mid-2026 with the arrival of The Mandalorian and Groguit’s questionable how well it will work – and, perhaps more importantly, whether it’s the right film to end the drought.
Indeed, for all intents and purposes, Mando and Baby Yoda’s cinematic debut appears to be a reworked version of what should have been The Mandalorian season 4. Add to that the lack of buzz around the film, the slow pace of its marketing campaign – it comes out in four months and we’ve only seen one trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu — and the fact that this comes from the lowest-rated installment of the series (i.e. Season 3), and the Filoni-Brennan era could get off to an inauspicious start if the movie doesn’t get off the ground.
There are other movie-related issues to address as well. The Mandalorian and Grogu and the project led by Ryan Gosling Star Wars: Starfighterwhich arrives in May 2027, despite this, all other new Star Wars films have been trapped in development hell for a while.
In a wide-ranging Deadline interview as part of his farewell tour, Kennedy confirmed that scripts for various films were handed in by Taiki Waititi, Donald Glover, James Mangold/Beau Willimon and Adam Driver/Scott Burns/Steven Soderbergh. Given that some of these have been in the works for years with no signs of coming to fruition, and Kennedy comments that “we’re in a time where companies are so risk-averse” when it comes to making original and creative films, it’s unclear if they will ever see the light of day.
Then there’s the TV side of the intellectual property that makes money. The rapid rise of the streaming industry has caused Lucasfilm to move away from big-screen offerings to tell stories through Disney+, aka one of the best streaming services in the world.
And, for a time, this decision paid off. The Mandalorian was a key driver in signing up millions of people in the early days of Disney+. Other television series have also been popular (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Ahsoka) sufficiently among viewers, and/or has, rightly, been widely acclaimed and rewarded for his creative efforts (Andor, Star Wars: Visions).
There were, however, notable hiccups. The Acolyte And Skeleton crew are two such examples that have not resonated with the public and, where The Acolyte is concerned, led to accusations from some fans that the franchise had become too woke and was no longer appealing to its predominantly white heterosexual male demographic. Given the negative reactions and/or low viewership, neither title got a second season.
Filoni and Brennan’s inboxes will be filled with other pressing matters that will need their attention when they officially replace Kennedy. To me, though, the three biggest problems they need to solve are bringing Star Wars back to the big screen, prioritizing quality over quantity in their movie and TV show productions, and, most important of all, greenlighting projects that continue to take big creative swings that appeal to everyone. each Star Wars fan.
If so, the heirs to the Kennedy throne could turn things around. Fail, and the Force will no longer be with one of Disney’s biggest IPs.
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