Kathleen Kennedy apparently has something in common with much of the Star Wars fanbase. She wants Kathleen Kennedy to leave Lucasfilm. But, according to Film Threat’s Chris Gore, she’s only willing to walk out the door under one condition.
Namely: she wants to leave on the heels of a massive critical and commercial success. That’s something Lucasfilm hasn’t experienced in quite some time.
Since Disney’s initial acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the company has been under the direction of film industry veteran Kathleen Kennedy. Back then, the longtime George Lucas and Steven Spielberg associate promised George that she would take care of his life’s work.
She has done anything but.
Under Kennedy, the Star Wars franchise has gone from the most evergreen IP of all time to a sour note punching bag for YouTubers and streamers the world over.
Kennedy presided over the deeply unpopular Star Wars sequel trilogy, which saw the deconstruction and eventual death of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker while pushing a younger and more diverse cast.
She also oversaw Solo: A Star Wars Story, which holds the distinction of being the first ever Star Wars film to lose money at the box office. When you couple that with critical and commercial failures on Disney Plus like The Acolyte, Ahsoka, Obi Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett, it becomes clear that under Kennedy’s supervision, Star Wars has fallen a long way from the powerhouse sci-fi franchise it once was.
With every failed project and announcement that never ultimately sees the light of day, fans around the world ask a series of unifying questions.
When will Kathleen Kennedy leave Star Wars? When will Disney fire Kathleen Kennedy? How does Kathleen Kennedy still have a job?
According to Film Threat’s Chris Gore on a recent episode of The PRO Show with WDW Pro, Kathleen Kennedy actually wants to leave Lucasfilm, but only under very specific circumstances.
Apparently this is from Star Wars Outlaws.
… like, he’s wearing a helmet. She back-hands him bare-handed.
And that’s a “takedown”?
Does Stormtrooper armor do anything? pic.twitter.com/nCwNzpjSvj
— Sacred Cow Shipyards (@SCShipyards) August 1, 2024
“We’ve been hearing lately that Kathleen Kennedy is not very hands on with Star Wars at this point,” Hollywood scooper WDW Pro said to Chris Gore on a recent episode of his livestream YouTube show. “Are you hearing anything similar that she may be operating in title only, at least for now?”
Gore then confirmed that he was hearing similar rumblings before dropping a bit more information.
“She wants to retire and leave,” Gore said. “But she wants to do that on a win.”
Gore went on to say that in order to leave, Kathleen Kennedy wants a huge success that she can ride into retirement. This could be a smash hit television show or a major box office victory with a theatrical release. In other words she’s wants to go out on a high note like George Costanza on Seinfeld.
“She’s waiting to go out on a big win and she hasn’t had one,” Gore said.
It stands to reason that Kennedy would want to retire. She’s 71 years old and has enjoyed a long and highly lucrative career in Hollywood. However, if recent projects are indicative of what the studio under her leadership is capable of, then we might be stuck with Kathleen Kennedy for a very long time.
The Acolyte, for example, had an atrocious showing on Disney Plus, with audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes falling as low as 13% during the show’s initial run (it sits at 17% as of this writing). The Acolyte also vanished from the Nielsen Top 10 streaming shows after just four episodes. That Park Place Editor in Chief John F. Trent also pointed out that the Leslye Headland-led live action series lost 75% of the Star Wars audience that tuned in for the season two finale of The Mandalorian.
Kennedy has also announced a plethora of Star Wars projects that never saw the light of day. This includes a trilogy by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, a Rogue Squadron movie by Wonder Woman direcor Patti Jenkins, a film by Marvel studio head Kevin Feige, and a film by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss.
With Kennedy’s current Lucasfilm contract reportedly set to expire in October, it will be interesting to see if Disney renews her or if Lucasfilm might be searching for a new studio head.
What do you think? Will Kennedy stick around until she gets that long-awaited big win? Or will Disney force her to move on come October?
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