Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy to step down

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy volition measurement down this week, marking a large — though expected — changing of the defender astatine the Walt Disney Co.-owned “Star Wars” studio.

In her place, existent Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni has been named president and volition clasp his originative rubric and Lucasfilm Business President and General Manager Lynwen Brennan has been named co-president, Disney said Thursday. The brace volition co-lead the San Francisco-based workplace and volition study to Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman.

The determination comes amid wide speculation astir Kennedy’s future. Handpicked successful 2012 by “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” creator George Lucas to helm the institution helium founded, Kennedy, 72, oversaw the enlargement of the “Star Wars” franchise into a caller trilogy, 2 spin-off movies, arsenic good arsenic respective TV shows, including “The Mandalorian” and “Andor.”

But the expansion, and her tenure, were not without setbacks.

2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” grossed conscionable $392.9 cardinal astatine the container office, aft a fraught accumulation successful which the workplace replaced the directors during shooting. Several “Star Wars” projects person been announced implicit the years with large names attached, lone to beryllium delayed oregon dropped, including a planned trilogy with “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Kennedy told the Times successful 2019 that perceptions of manager churn astatine Lucasfilm were overblown.

“Nobody successful our concern develops thing with 1 person, that’s it, and everything goes perfectly,” she said astatine the time. “That’s a reasonably communal portion of the process. We autumn nether unthinkable scrutiny due to the fact that it’s ‘Star Wars.’ Because of the prime I’m striving for, I’m reaching retired to apical talent, and vice versa.”

Kennedy besides had to upwind scrutiny from die-hard fans astir the caller absorption of the franchise. Nevertheless, the newest “Star Wars” trilogy grossed a corporate $4.3 cardinal successful worldwide container bureau revenue, with spinoff “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” hauling successful much than $1 cardinal globally and led to the fashionable bid “Andor.”

She volition proceed arsenic shaper of Lucasfilm’s adjacent 2 theatrical films — May’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” and “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which is being helmed by Shawn Levy and acceptable for merchandise successful 2027.

“The Mandalorian and Grogu” volition people the archetypal “Star Wars” theatrical movie since 2019’s “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker.” During accumulation for that movie, Kennedy asked Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger if the institution could instrumentality a intermission connected “Star Wars” films to springiness them much clip make caller storylines. At that point, the institution had released astatine slightest 1 “Star Wars” movie a twelvemonth since 2015, portion Lucas himself had antecedently waited astatine slightest 3 years betwixt films. (Since 2019, the workplace did merchandise “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” arsenic good arsenic respective “Star Wars” bid and streaming films.)

Both Filoni and Brennan measurement into their caller roles arsenic Lucasfilm veterans.

Filoni, who often dons a cowboy chapeau successful nationalist and is frankincense wide recognizable to fans, was chosen by Lucas successful 2005 to physique the studio’s animation business. He created Lucasfilm’s archetypal series, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” arsenic good arsenic “Star Wars Rebels,” was the enforcement shaper connected shows including “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka” and is shaper and writer of the “The Mandalorian and Grogu” film.

Brennan joined Lucasfilm ocular effects workplace Industrial Light & Magic successful 1999 and presently leads concern strategy, franchise and accumulation operations, arsenic good arsenic ILM’s enlargement worldwide.