Kathleen Kennedy Downplays Star Wars Retirement Rumors

It sounds like Kathleen Kennedy isn’t leaving Star Wars behind just yet. Star Wars is one of the most coveted brands in all of entertainment and for years, was led exclusively by creator George Lucas. Although other people came in and shepherded projects under him, he had final say on anything that was going to be made canon. Of course, Lucas also took the heat from fans when the Star Wars prequels debuted. The backlash to some of those films at the time seemingly pushed Lucas away from making more Star Wars movies, despite developing stories for a sequel trilogy. The acclaimed director eventually sold Star Wars and his company Lucasfilm to Disney for a few billion dollars, simultaneously relinquishing creative control of it all.

Lucas had handpicked a producer he had worked with for years named Kathleen Kennedy to come in and lead Lucasfilm during the Disney-era of Star Wars. In the last decade, Kennedy completed the Star Wars sequel trilogy with mixed results, launched multiple live-action TV shows for Star Wars including fan-favorite series The Mandalorian, and much more. It’s been a busy time for Star Wars, but many have taken issue with Kennedy’s time overseeing Star Wars. Numerous Star Wars projects have been abruptly canceled, films have had huge course corrections at the last minute, and much more. It hasn’t been very smooth, to put it lightly, and Kennedy has taken some of the wrath that Lucas endured.

Kathleen Kennedy on Star Wars Rumors: “I Am Not Retiring”

With that said, rumors began swirling earlier this week that Kathleen Kennedy is retiring from Star Wars and Lucasfilm in 2025. The accomplished producer is 71 and many saw it as a sensible step given her tenure over there. However, that’s not completely true. In a new interview with Deadline, Kennedy downplayed rumors of the her retirement.

“The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring,” said Kennedy. “I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring. What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob and Alan about what eventual succession might look like. We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road. We are in lockstep as to what that’s going to be, and I am continuing. I’m producing Mandalorian the movie right now, and I’m also producing Sean Levy’s movie, which is after that. So I’m continuing to stay at Lucasfilm and looking very thoughtfully with Bob and Alan as to who’s stepping in. So that is all underway, and we have every right to make that announcement when we want to make it.”

So, Kennedy is indeed going to be producing Star Wars movies for the foreseeable future, but she knows she won’t be at Lucasfilm eventually and is looking for a replacement. When pressed about who her Star Wars successor will be (particularly if it will be Dave Filoni), Kennedy declined to name anyone specifically and noted that they are going through an extensive process to figure it out. However, when the time comes, whenever it comes, Kennedy plans to still stick around in Star Wars land and help produce more film in the franchise including Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie.

So really, don’t expect Kennedy to be leaving the Star Wars universe for many years. Even if she won’t be completely leading the charge before then, she will be helping out on projects for the foreseeable future and helping whoever steps in transition into that role smoothly. It’s not like Kathleen Kennedy is going to just leave and never think about Star Wars again at the end of 2025, assuming she does step down from her role by then. Either way, it’s a pretty surprising turn of events and one that will likely upset some fans.

What do you think of Kathleen Kennedy’s Star Wars plans? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.