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Star Wars’ Kathleen Kennedy to step down as Lucasfilm boss by end of 2025

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Rey runs from an explosion in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens LucasFilm/Disney / Lucasfilm

There will soon be a new president in the galaxy far, far away.

Per Puck, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy has informed associates of her plans to retire by the end of 2025. Kennedy reportedly planned to leave in 2024 but decided to stay.

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Kennedy became Lucasfilm’s co-chair alongside Star Wars creator George Lucas in 2012. Lucas left Lucasfilm soon after Disney acquired the company for $4 billion, and Kennedy stepped into the role as president.

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Under Kennedy’s leadership, Star Wars experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Kennedy relaunched the franchise with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed over $2 billion worldwide. The sequel, 2017’s The Last Jedi, was extremely polarizing and only made $1.3 billion. The sequel trilogy ended with 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, the lowest-grosser of the three at $1.1 billion.

The two separate movies released during 2015-2019 were 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Kennedy brought in Tony Gilroy to oversee five weeks of reshoots on the Gareth Edwards-directed movie. The move paid off, as Rogue One became a critical and commercial hit, leading Gilroy to create Disney+’s Andor.

Solo was not so successful. Kennedy fired directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller in the middle of production and replaced the duo with Ron Howard. Solo became a box office flop.

There has been no Star Wars theatrical release since 2019. Rian Johnson and the duo of D.B. Benioff and David Weiss were hired to create new trilogies that never materialized. Films from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Dave Filoni, and James Mangold have yet to enter production. The next Star Wars film to hit theaters will be The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22, 2026.

Andor | Season 2 Trailer | Streaming April 22 on Disney+

In the years since 2019, Kennedy and Lucasfilm have tried to expand the Star Wars brand on Disney+. The Mandalorian became a massive hit, and Andor is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars show on the service. The other Star Wars shows have failed to capture the same excitement as Mandalorian and Andor.

Before Star Wars, Kennedy was best known for her work with her husband Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg. The trio collaborated on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and the Indiana Jones franchise, culminating with 2023’s Dial of Destiny.

The next major event for Lucasfilm will be Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 from April 18-20.

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Dan Girolamo
Dan Girolamo
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