After 14 years steering the helm of Lucasfilm after George Lucas sold the company to Disney, Kathleen Kennedy has announced she’ll step down. Taking her place, following the Disney subsidiary mold, are two new leaders: Dave Filoni, who will be more familiar to most fans, and Lynwen Brennan, whose storied career with ILM and Lucasfilm should get more attention. What does it all mean for the future of Star Wars, on-screen and otherwise? Will we see a big change or expect more of the same? In a big exit interview, Kennedy’s willingness to be open about her time running the company, and working under Disney’s ever watchful gaze, offers some hints at what to expect, while she also dropped some news regarding the myriad of films we’ve heard about but have yet to see. Let’s dive in below!
If there’s one thing that’s grown really clear since The Hunt for Ben Solo cancellation situation, it’s how much Disney has been the reason Lucasfilm has had such a hard time bringing Star Wars back to the cinemas or keeping shows going for more than one season. Kennedy isn’t afraid to point the finger at them as well, revealing Bob Iger once told her to be bold but now they are the ones who are so risk adverse, we’re without any new films because of it:
“Right now we’re in an era where companies are so risk-averse, and I get it. I hear all the conversations. They’ve got Wall Street to please, and I get it, but I also believe that that’s what contributes to things disappearing, ultimately. I just think you have to take those chances.
Everything I just reeled off to you is taking a bit of a chance because none of those filmmakers are just walking in trying to do same old, same old. I’m excited by that, but the studio’s nervous about that, and that’s kind of where it sits at the moment.”
Saw what you will about her time leading Lucasfilm, but the lack of films or mold-breaking content cut down or safe-feeling stories and choices is not totally her fault. Disney has been holding back Lucasfilm for some time now and it’s only gotten worse. They’d rather spend billions on giving fans the ability to bring AI slop of their iconic characters to Disney+ than take a risk and do something, something exciting. It feels like there’s no coincidence Kennedy’s exit from Lucasfilm follows the announcement of Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge changing to the safe Original Trilogy era storyline instead of the sequel era. To me, this signals that while we have two new people running the company, they still have a giant gauntlet to surpass to get anything out, so the more things change, the more they stay the same. What this leadership change really boils down to is: will Filoni and Brennan push as much as Kennedy has for bold or new ideas, or will they gladly take Disney’s notes on how to play it safe?
When it comes to Filoni, in the early animation years, I’d have imagined he’d be pushing for the weird and wild like George Lucas did. After all, he trained under the master himself on The Clone Wars for years, and he got to see first-hand what it was like for Lucas to push and pull his galaxy far, far away as he saw fit, fans or shareholders be damned (though the money people did help rein in how much was done). Ever since Filoni has entered the live-action realm, I’d argue he’s largely bucked the lessons his master once taught him. The Mandalorian can often feel like boys playing with toys, with meandering plots and half-baked ideas. With Ahsoka, he’s at least willing to offer glimpses at some weird things like zombie-stormtroopers, other galaxies, and the World Between Worlds, but he still doesn’t trust its audience much and plays it too sterile instead of maybe embracing some romance. Maybe he’s been under the microscope these past two years, which is how long they’ve been working towards this change, and Filoni’s done his best to be the good boy to get the job. Maybe now the gloves could come off? Or maybe he’ll get comfortable and keep them on? I’m not going to hold on to the hope he’ll function more like his master once taught him, but if he pushes for stuff that breaks the mold, that could be risk, I’d not be surprised Bob Iger or Alan Bergman, or whomever will be CEOs of Disney in the near future, might be willing to listen to him. In the case of Iger and Bergman, I’d unfortunately not be surprised they’d be more willing to listen because he’s a man.
I think the real person to look out for here is Lynwen Brennan. Just check out her page on the Lucasfilm website and some extra details in the announcement about her new role. Coming to ILM with 10 years of visual effects experience in 1999 (so 6 years before Filoni came to LFL), she became ILM’s President only 10 years later in 2009. 6 years after that, Brennan was promoted to General Manager of Lucasfilm in 2015, and only 9 years later moved up to President & General Manager of Lucasfilm Business in 2024. Two years after that, Co-President of LFL! Already overseeing the business side of things since 2015, and was Kennedy’s, “…key financial partner, my business partner running the company,” she’s the secret weapon here. There’s a reason something like The Hunt for Ben Solo was basically ready to shoot before Disney shut it down, as she was able to justify building up the infrastructure to get the film made. If Filoni’s willing to push, as he’s likely seen as enough of a golden boy by Iger and Bergman, she’ll be there to make all those things happen, as she was behind Kennedy’s many ideas and helped get them on the ground as best as she could, and she could do the same alongside Filoni. Making the numbers look good. Making the risks seem less. And help push in a new era. So with that in mind, I have some hope, but we’ll just have to wait and see what comes next to understand if this change-up was for better or worse.
I appreciated Kennedy called out the hate-monger fans, saying they are small and few with loud microphones, and repeating this several times. Glad we can all agree they are the minority and we can only wish Disney realized the same thing. She also says she did her best to prepare people for their ferocity, though I still think she and Lucasfilm fell short on that several times. What I didn’t appreciate was her slander of Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s Alden Ehrenreich, as she STILL doesn’t understand he and the performances are what has given the film its legs and a dedicated desire to see a second one made. And then she goes on to say she’s excited about AI, the scourge of creativity, even claiming it might be as big as the first CGI effects on films she worked on. Bullocks, Kennedy, absolute bullocks, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Lastly, as for what Kennedy did and didn’t say about upcoming projects, let’s break down the revelations here:
- For Rey’s New Jedi Order film, with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Kennedy said not a peep. Yet it’s Daisy Ridley’s recent press appearances for her film We Bury the Dead (which I did quite enjoy for its unsettling nature, interesting take on zombies, and Ridley’s killer performance, but I did wish the film took it’s concepts a little further or development them more), who has offered hope and hints she’ll be filming it sooner rather than later. Is Kennedy mum on it, much like they were on The Hunt for Ben Solo, because it’s so close to fruition she can’t talk about it? I don’t think Ridley would be saying what she has if it wasn’t happening, but who knows. Hopefully we’ll get confirmation one way or another sooner rather than later.
- And speaking of The Hunt of Ben Solo, she mentions the script, yet says it’s on the backburner. She doesn’t say cancelled, at least, just backburner. Which is a little more hope than I ever expected for the project, but maybe all the fervor by fans has helped them start to reconsider it rather than completely kill it.
- James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi sounds like it’s too risky for scaredy cat Disney, as it’s on hold and on the backburner like THfBS. Boo.
- Taika Waititi’s film, announced in 2020, had a recent script turned in, which Kennedy describes as “…hilarious and great.” She says it’s up to the new management to see it through or not.
- Donald Glover, who late last year revealed his scary health troubles, also recently turned in a script for his Lando movie. It too is up to new management if it goes any further.
- As for Simon Kinberg’s trilogy, Kennedy says Filoni and Brennan are, “…very much on board with what Simon’s doing.” He gave them something back in August, which they went back to the drawing board over and “upended the story,” and only four weeks ago handed in a big, new treatment. He’s schedule for another writing milestone in March, so it’s moving along it seems. Could this be what Ridley’s been referring to, as she’ll be in these so she’s expecting to be filming that?
- With 2027’s Starfighter, it seems everyone has been enamored with Flynn Gray’s performance, so that’s promising. She hints it could go on and they could look for more stories for his character given how good he is, but it’s being focused on as a stand-alone first and foremost.
- Regarding Rian Johnson’s trilogy, she thinks he was spooked by the fandom’s reaction, though he has seemed to say otherwise over the years, so who knows. UPDATE: He JUST reiterated that was not the case…
- She also mentions she’s spoken with big names like David Fincher, Alex Garland, and even Vince Gilligan for TV.
- And some insider trades news, in an article full of hit-piece like analysis of Kennedy’s tenure that’s best skipped over, it was revealed there were not only some Indiana Jones projects that didn’t come to fruition (like an animated series set between the main movies or a prequel live-action series following Marion’s father), but Rick Famuyiwa’s (who directed some The Mandalorian episodes and even has a cameo) live-action Star Wars show was developed but is in limbo.
- UPDATE: According to a Hollywood Reporter article on Kennedy’s exit, it also claims Filoni’s Mando-verse movie, which fans have been calling Heir to the Empire, is on the back burner. It doesn’t cite this info with any sources and is another negative trade article so I’m taking this news with a grain of salt.
Say what you will about her time running Lucasfilm (look at all the lovely memories everyone’s been sharing), but it’s the future, and what these changes could or couldn’t mean, which are far more important to concern ourselves with.
And look, I know she didn’t bring us a lot of Sith, like my title for this article suggests, but I couldn’t help myself with a little Hitchhiker’s Guide reference.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.