Kathleen Kennedy, who has led Lucasfilm for 14 years, has shared that she feels "a bit of relief" following her departure from the role of studio president. Kennedy took the helm of Lucasfilm in 2002 and guided the company through its acquisition by Disney, overseeing the production of the sequel trilogy and numerous Disney+ series.
During her tenure, Lucasfilm experienced both significant successes, such as "The Mandalorian" and "Andor," and notable commercial or critical disappointments, including the film "Solo." Several other planned projects also failed to materialize or were significantly altered during development, with directors reportedly changing or projects being shelved. Among the many projects that did not proceed were trilogy plans from "Game of Thrones" showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, a Rian Johnson trilogy, and a "Knights of the Old Republic" concept.
Kennedy acknowledged the immense challenge of her role, especially stepping into a franchise created by George Lucas. "These jobs are not easy and stepping into something like that that George had created was an incredible challenge," she stated at the Bloomberg Screentime event in Los Angeles. She described the difficulty of balancing the expectations of long-time fans with the need to create new and original content.
"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," Kennedy reflected. "I think you learn things, I always like learning things from the movies that we do, the post-mortems we do on what worked, what didn't. But I'm always proud of the work that's been done."
Looking ahead, Star Wars content is set to continue with "Star Wars: Starfighter" starring Ryan Gosling and "Ahsoka" Season 2.