Kathleen Kennedy Leaves Lucasfilm After 14 Years, Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan Named New Star Wars Overlords

After months of rumors, Kathleen Kennedy is officially stepping down arsenic the President of Lucasfilm aft 14 years and volition beryllium replaced by Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, Walt Disney Studios announced Thursday. Filoni volition beryllium the originative pb arsenic Lucasfilm’s President and Chief Creative Officer, Lucasfilm, portion Brennan volition beryllium Co-President, Lucasfilm. Both execs are longtime Lucasfilm veterans. Lucasfilm’s caller enactment divided seems reminiscent of however DC Studios is co-led by James Gunn overseeing originative decisions and Peter Safran successful complaint of the studio’s concern side.

“When George Lucas asked maine to instrumentality implicit Lucasfilm upon his retirement, I couldn’t person imagined what laic ahead,” said Kennedy successful a statement. “It has been a existent privilege to walk much than a decennary moving alongside the bonzer endowment astatine Lucasfilm. Their creativity and dedication person been an inspiration, and I’m profoundly arrogant of what we’ve accomplished together. I’m excited to proceed processing films and tv with some longtime collaborators and caller voices who correspond the aboriginal of storytelling.”

Kathleen Kennedy (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images)

“My emotion of storytelling was shaped by the films of Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas,” said Filoni. “I ne'er dreamed I would beryllium privileged to larn the trade of filmmaking from some of them. From Rey to Grogu, Kathy has overseen the top enlargement successful Star Wars storytelling onscreen that we person ever seen. I americium incredibly grateful to Kathy, George, Bob Iger, and Alan Bergman for their spot and the accidental to pb Lucasfilm successful this caller role, doing a occupation I genuinely love. May the Force beryllium with you.”

“Lucasfilm has played specified a meaningful portion successful my life,” said Brennan. “It’s a assemblage of inspiring storytellers with a rebel tone similar nary other, and I americium honored to articulation Dave Filoni successful starring america forward. I person been truthful fortunate to larn from George Lucas, Kathy Kennedy, and Alan Bergman and person unwavering religion successful Dave’s originative imaginativeness for the adjacent section successful this storied studio’s legacy.”

Kennedy volition modulation backmost into producing. She’s presently producing the movies The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter. She co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall.Br

In a statement, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger praised Kennedy for her “leadership, her vision, and her stewardship of specified an iconic workplace and brand.”

“When we acquired Lucasfilm much than a decennary ago, we knew we were bringing into the Disney household not lone 1 of the astir beloved and enduring storytelling universes ever created, but besides a squad of bonzer endowment led by a visionary filmmaker – idiosyncratic who had been handpicked by George Lucas himself, nary less,” said Iger. “We’re profoundly grateful for Kathleen Kennedy’s leadership, her vision, and her stewardship of specified an iconic workplace and brand.”

“Kathleen Kennedy has been a tremendous unit successful the manufacture for 50 years, and it’s been our privilege to person her present astatine Disney starring Lucasfilm for astir 14 of them,” said Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman. “She has steered Star Wars to unthinkable container bureau heights and brought a caller procreation of fans into the fold. We admit having her connected committee to nutrient our adjacent mates of films, and the workplace remains successful extraordinarily susceptible hands with Dave Filoni, who’s a superb storyteller, and Lynwen Brennan, an avid innovator and concern leader. They are profoundly passionate and experienced executives who volition proceed to thrust the workplace and Star Wars guardant successful breathtaking caller directions.”

This May’s The Mandalorian and Grogu volition beryllium Lucasfilm’s archetypal theatrical movie merchandise since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with the workplace spending those intervening years processing streaming bid of varying prime for Disney+.

Kennedy’s tenure arsenic caput of Lucasfilm has not been without its just stock of behind-the-scenes play – each those manager drop-outs, including Phil Lord and Chris Miller getting fired from Solo – and vocal displeasure from segments of fandom, peculiarly implicit the handling of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and immoderate of the franchise’s Disney+ series.

In the past, Kennedy criticized instrumentality scrutiny of Star Wars projects successful improvement arsenic “troubling and frustrating” and said that women successful beforehand of and down the camera successful Star Wars projects conflict with toxicity owed to a “male dominated fanbase.”

Most recently, instrumentality campaigns person been launched to resurrect The Hunt for Ben Solo, Steven Soderbergh’s shelved task with Adam Driver.