Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy responds to speculation about retirement: succession planning is underway, but she’s not retiring.
A little bit of smoke, a little bit of fire. A report broke recently that Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy was planning to retire, and step away from the Star Wars world. She’s now been chatting to Deadline about it, and there’s something to it, but not quite what was originally reported.
She’s adamant that retirement isn’t on the cards, declaring that “The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring.”
However, she does confirm that she’s been having conversations with Alan Horn and Bob Iger at Disney about “what eventual succession might look like.”
It’s also something that’s coming to the fore quite soon by the sound of things, as she adds that “we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road.”
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She’s still going to be in and around Lucasfilm even when those plans are announced, although in what role remains to be seen. Her commitments include producing The Mandalorian And Grogu movie that Jon Favreau is directing (and is arriving next year). She’s then going to produce the Star Wars movie after that, which Shawn Levy is set to make.
Specific to her own future, she adds that, “we have every right to make that announcement when we want to make it,” which is entirely fair enough.
Appreciating the wave of headlines wasn’t entirely accurate, including our own, the story at last have some truth to it. Furthermore, now Kennedy has confirmed the spirit of it, the speculation as to her succession is likely to be ongoing. But within the halls of Lucasfilm, things seem a little bit calmer about it all.
The Deadline report is here.
