It’s difficult to argue that the Star Wars franchise under Disney has had something of a difficult road. The sequel trilogy was met with mixed reviews, but it was an unqualified box office hit, with each movie making over a billion dollars at the global box office. The Force Awakens is still the highest-grossing domestic movie ever, ahead of even Avengers: Endgame.
But, since the release of those films, the franchise has had a tough time. As the head of the studio, Kathleen Kennedy has been the one to get the brunt of the criticism. While all indications have been that Disney has had no problems with her performance, many fans have. Now, those fans are about to be very happy if a new Lucasfilm rumor is true.
Kathleen Kennedy May Be Leaving Lucasfilm
A new report from Puck claims that Kathleen Kennedy has told people within her inner circle that she plans to leave Lucasfilm at the end of this year. No public statement has been made, so this is officially still a rumor, but Puck claims to have multiple sources confirming the departure.
It’s difficult to argue that the George Lucas-birthed IP hasn’t had its struggles. Multiple Star Wars movies that have been announced over the last several years have failed to materialize. As a result, fans haven't seen a film entry from the franchise hit movie theaters in six years, which is clearly not part of some grand intentional design. There have absolutely been some problems at the Disney-owned company.
As the head of Lucasfilm, Kennedy is ultimately responsible for the franchise, the good and the bad. For those fans who have been actively calling for her to step down, and actively harassing any women involved in Star Wars, for years, this will certainly be seen as good news. But I just can't get that excited.
Kathleen Kennedy Leaving Lucasfilm May Make Star Wars Far More Boring
With Kennedy allegedly stepping down, the big question will become who will replace her. The most obvious choice is Dave Filoni, who already has a chief creative role at Lucasfilm. He’s also very popular with the SW fanbase, and about the most boring choice that could be made.
While I’ve enjoyed Filoni’s contributions to Star Wars too, they have mostly seemed to rely on fan service. Easter eggs are fun, but they’re not enough to sustain a franchise. Yet, they are the things that get fans excited, so that stuff has only continued to grow. Making this new chapter in the franchise exciting by referencing older, better movies isn't a long-term solution.
The two most recent additions to the world of Star Wars, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, were projects I found far more interesting than Ahsoka or the recent seasons of The Mandalorian . That's because the shows (which are streamable with a Disney+ subscription) expanded the concept of what Star Wars as a franchise was.
Losing Kathleen Kennedy doesn’t mean that fans won’t see more interesting and creative ideas, but retreating back to the safe ground and just pumping out movies and series full of references to earlier trilogies is just not interesting. It is, however, what Disney does when it's out of ideas.
Kathleen Kennedy is one of the most accomplished producers in the history of Hollywood. With Star Wars and more, she’s shown how good she is and she’s certainly earned her retirement. If she is leaving, I wish her the best. As for whoever takes over, I hope they'll learn a few things from her.
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