Well, we can lay to rest those rumours about Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure at Lucasfilm coming to an end, as Deadline is reporting that Kennedy has just signed a three-year contract extension to remain as president of the company through to 2021.
Kennedy took over Lucasfilm from George Lucas following the company’s sale to Disney, and during that time she has overseen the release of four Star Wars movies in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Despite box office receipts approaching $4.5 billion, it certainly hasn’t been plain sailing for Lucasfilm under Kennedy. There has been numerous issues with directors (see Gareth Edwards on Rogue One, Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Solo, and Josh Trank on Boba Fett), while Star Wars: The Last Jedi proved to be hugely divisive, and Solo became the first Star Wars movie to tank at the box office.
Solo’s poor box office returns prompted rumours that Kennedy would be stepping down from Lucasfilm, with speculation suggesting that Marvel’s Kevin Feige could have been in line to replace her (a rather silly notion, as it would make no sense for Disney to remove him from the Marvel Cinematic Universe given the enormous success he’s enjoyed).
Lucasfilm is currently in production on next year’s Star Wars: Episode IX, and has Star Wars Resistance, a live-action Star Wars TV series and Indiana Jones 5 all on its upcoming slate. Further Star Wars plans are being kept under wraps for the time being as Disney and Lucasfilm reassess their approach to the Saga, with Disney CEO Bob Iger stating recently that we can expect a Star Wars “slowdown” in the wake of Solo.
