Kathleen Kennedy first took over as the head of Lucasfilm on June 1, 2012, roughly five months before the world even got a whiff that Disney was planning on buying Lucasfilm and ushing in a new era of Star Wars media. That means Kennedy had a lengthy 13-year-long stint as the head of Lucasfilm, which has included ushering in some of the biggest movies in history (Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as well as historic box office bombs (Solo: A Star Wars Story and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). At the end of 2025, Kennedy’s tenure may come to an end, with Kennedy reportedly planning to retire after decades in show business.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Now, all eyes will be on who Disney hires to succeed Kennedy. Choosing a new Lucasfilm head isn’t an easy task and seemingly obvious choices may not be the best options for the gig. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, for instance, may be beloved by many Star Wars fans, but they don’t have the decades of experience producing motion pictures that Kennedy had. Running a gigantic machine like Lucasfilm would require someone with an extensive show business background, not just knowledge about Life Day and Mara Jade. Five names, though, stand out as potentially great picks to take over Lucasfilm now that Kennedy’s era is seemingly coming to a close.
Carrie Beck
In 2013, the Lucasfilm Story Group was established to create a new coherent web of Star Wars canon. One key member of that group (she was credited as Director, Creative Content Strategy for the Story Group in 2013) is Carrie Beck. Since then, she’s also become the vice president of animation and live-action development at Lucasfilm while serving as an executive producer on the 2023 Disney+ show Star Wars: Ahsoka. Beck has already expanded her responsibilities in recent years while wielding an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Star Wars. If Disney brass are looking for a Lucasfilm veteran to take over Kennedy’s position, Carrie Beck seems like a no-brainer.
Pippa Anderson
Another Lucasfilm veteran who could easily work as a new head is Pippa Anderson, who currently works as Senior Vice President, Post Production at Lucasfilm. Hired back in 2013, she’s been in charge of ensuring the post-production process for all Star Wars projects (both films and TV) runs smoothly since the days of The Force Awakens. She’s a Lucasfilm veteran that the company clearly treasures, given how long she’s been here and the number of productions she’s juggled. Maybe it’s time for her to take over as head of Lucasfilm and start guiding Star Wars endeavors through every step of their production.
Emma Watts
[RELATED: I Think This is the Most Important Star Wars Character]
The consolidation of major American movie studios in the last decade has ensured a treasure trove of laid-off experienced executives who are currently looking for high-profile gigs. Among those figures is Emma Watts, who worked in major positions for roughly 23 years at 20th Century Fox, including President of Production since 2007. She left the outfit in 2020 in the wake of the studio’s merger with Disney. The woman who oversaw pop culture juggernauts like Avatar and Deadpool at Fox currently works as a producer-for-hire. She could also be just the person to succeed Kennedy. After all, Watts knows how to work with talent and has extensive experience realizing costly tentpoles, qualities you won’t find just anywhere.
Jeff Small
The first person George Lucas chose to succeed him as Lucasfilm’s head was a close ally of Steven Spielberg. Why not go down that route again, especially with somebody with extensive experience running film studios? Current Amblin Partners CEO Jeff Small (who also worked as COO of Revolution Studios) could be an ideal pick. In his time leading this modern version of Amblin Entertainment, Small has overseen projects of all shapes and sizes ranging from The Fabelmans to Twisters. He’s also been CEO as Amblin Partners pursues retro films like The House With a Clock in its Walls that harken back to earlier eras of genre cinema. These qualities could make him ideal for taking over the Lucasfilm empire.
Nicole Brown
Since 2020, Nicole Brown has done tremendous work as the head of TriStar Pictures at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Specifically, she’s cemented this outfit as a place housing theatrical cinema that other studios wouldn’t take a chance on. This includes hits like The Woman King or One of Them Days, as well as upcoming adult dramas for the big screen like A Big Bold Beautiful Journey and Eleanor the Great. The last few years of Star Wars media have inspired rampant criticism that this franchise is playing things too safe. Hiring Brown could ensure that the next era of Lucasfilm has some of the creative gusto marking Brown’s impressive TriStar tenure.
Who do you think could serve as president of Lucasfilm? Let us know in the comments below!
