It’s official: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as overseer of the Star Wars franchise.
After months of speculation, Kennedy’s 14-year tenure in charge of the Disney subsidiary — and, by proxy, her time managing its flagship sci-fi property — will soon come to an end. Kennedy’s impending departure was first announced on the official Star Wars website last night (January 15).
The rule of two
Filoni and Brennan clearly have the talent, dedication, expertise and fanatical devotion to the Star Wars universe that should help usher in a new era of original storytelling.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that they will. Ever since Filoni joined Lucasfilm to direct Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ animated feature films, the avid Star Wars fan has become increasingly involved in steering the direction of the franchise. His influence has been most notable in the era of streaming, where Filoni has created and executive produced several Disney+ shows amid the explosion of the streaming sector and the subsequent race between studios to capture viewers’ attention.
Not all projects have been successful (more on these later). However, Filoni has helped oversee critically acclaimed and/or hugely popular small screens, including Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batchand of course The Mandalorian.
Brennan’s more than 25-year career at Lucasfilm has been less forward-thinking than that of her new studio president partner, but it has nonetheless been an impressive rise through the ranks for the company’s stalwarts. Originally joining Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic division in 1999, Brennan became head of said subsidiary in 2009 before being promoted to Lucasfilm General Manager in 2015. Eleven years after her last career advancement, Brennan is now set to use her distinct leadership and business acumen to help run the place she’s called home for 27 years.
Will the force revive under Filoni and Brennan’s leadership?
Poised as Filoni and Brennan will no doubt take control of Lucasfilm, there is no question that they are taking charge of an incredibly popular franchise that has been lost in recent years.
For starters, it’s been eight years since the last Star Wars movie – the overly cautious and predictable one The Rise of Skywalker – was released in cinemas. And while the big screen hiatus will come to an end in mid-2026 with the arrival of Mandalorian and Groguit’s debatable how well it will perform—and perhaps more importantly, whether it’s the right movie to end the drought.
In fact, Mando and Baby Yoda’s silver screen debut seems for all intents and purposes to be a reworked version of what should have been The Mandalorian season 4. Throw in the lack of buzz around the movie, the sluggish nature of its marketing – it’s out in four months and we’ve only seen one more trailer Mandalorian and Grogu — and the fact that it’s coming off the back of the show’s lowest-rated episode (that’s Season 3), and the Filoni-Brennan era could be off to an inauspicious start if the movie doesn’t hit the ground running.
There are also other movie-based issues that need to be addressed. Mandalorian and Grogu and the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighterwhich is coming in May 2027, despite every other new Star Wars movie being trapped in development hell for a while.
In a wide-ranging Deadline interview as part of his farewell tour, Kennedy confirmed that scripts for various films had been submitted by Taiki Waititi, Donald Glover, James Mangold/Beau Willimon and Adam Driver/Scott Burns/Steven Soderbergh. Given that some of them have been in the works for years with no sign of them actually being made, plus Kennedy’s comments that “we’re in an era where companies are so risk-averse” about making original, creatively distinct films, it’s unclear if they’ll ever see the light of day.
Then there’s the TV side of the money-spinning IP. The rapid rise of the streaming industry led Lucasfilm to pivot away from big-screen offerings in favor of telling stories through Disney+, also known as one of the world’s best streaming services.
And for a time, that decision paid off. The Mandalorian was a key driver behind millions signing up in the early days of Disney+. Other TV series have also been popular (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Ahsoka) enough among viewers and/or rightfully gained widespread recognition and awards for their creative endeavors (Andor, Star Wars: Visions).
However, there have been notable duds. The acolyte and Skeleton Crew are two such examples that failed to resonate with audiences and where The acolyte is concerned, led to accusations from some fans that the franchise had become too woke and no longer appealed to its predominantly white, heterosexual male demographic. Due to the backlash and/or poor ratings, neither title received a second season.
Filoni and Brennan’s inboxes will be full of other pressing matters that require their attention when they officially replace Kennedy. But to me, the three biggest issues they need to address are getting Star Wars back on the big screen, prioritizing quality over quantity with their film and TV offerings, and — most importantly — greenlighting projects that continue to take big, creative leaps that appeal to every Star Wars fan.
Nail these and Kennedy’s heirs to the throne can turn this stuttering ship around. Fail and The Force will no longer be with one of Disney’s biggest IPs.
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