Kathleen Kennedy’s Retirement Can Put ‘Star Wars’ On The Right Path

In 2021, many thought that Kathleen Kennedy Lucasfilm would resign, which would allow “Star Wars” to develop in a new direction after the dull reception at the following trilogy.

However, his contract has been discreetly renewed, and no other film “Star Wars” has been shown in theaters since then. Several films are in preparation, but with frequent delays and constant changes behind the scenes, many hope that the “Star Wars” will move in a new direction after his leave.

This year, the Star Wars celebration event will take place in Tokyo in April. It is planned that Kennedy officially announces his retirement during the event and may appoint his successor, who should be widely planned be Jon Favreau or Dave Filoni.

Puckwas the first to announce the news of his possible retirement on Monday evening; However, Lucasfilm and Kennedy have not yet responded to requests for comments from the explosion.

George Lucas himself had in fact chosen Kennedy to direct Lucasfilm when Disney bought his studio during the 2012 acquisition, however, many think that his decisions have only developed a disaster for the franchise.

Even before “The Force Awakens” came out in theaters, there was already difficult to brew, partly due to an alleged dispute between the scriptwriter Michael Arndt and JJ Abrams, who led Arndt to be removed from the project. Rian Johnson seized “The Last Jedi” to very mixed criticism, while Colin Trevorrow was supposed to have written and directed “The Rise of Skywalker”.

We don’t know why Trevorrow left the project. Some say that is due to the cold reception of “The Book of Henry” by Trevorrow, while Kennedy said that he had left the project due to “creative differences”. Fans all know what happened here: Abrams was brought at the last minute, and they rushed to finish the film in eighteen months. At one point, Kennedy even admitted that to call on three different directors to create a unifying trilogy was a bad idea.

“Colin was in a huge disadvantage that was not part of” Awakens force “and in part of these first conversations because we had a general feeling of the place where history was going”, ” She explained. “We were on a calendar, as we are often with these films, and we had to make a difficult decision to know if we thought or not that we could get there or not. And as I said, Colin was disadvantaged because he had not been immersed in everything we had all started with episode VII. “”

During the shooting of “Rogue One”, the director Gareth Edwards was removed from the production and replaced by Tony Gilroy, who completely rewarding the third act of the film.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller were dismissed in the middle of production in the middle of “solo” and Ron Howard was selected to take over. However, he had to withdraw more than half of the film, which led to The budget becomes more than double What had been planned.

And it’s just in terms of films. Disney + shows have recently been criticized, with “The Acolyte” in the face of the most vocal reaction. The “Kenobi” led by Ewan McGregor was seen positively by the fans, but even this project was originally to be a trilogy and faced disturbances behind the scenes after the screenwriter Hosein Amini was dismissed and Joby Harold had to take over.

“Andor” also faced similar setbacks when the showrunner Stephen Schiff was released. Tony Gilroy resumed the project, but then forced Toby Haynes to intervene because of the COVVI-19 restrictions present at the time.

There are many films that have been announced to disappear apparently. There was a film Boba Fett without title which was to be directed by Josh Trank, although he seems to have disappeared in favor of the Disney + Dulne series “The book by Boba Fett”.

The creators of “Game of Thrones” David Benioff and DB Weiss too Announced plans To create a series of “Star Wars” films without title, but it is likely that they have already moved away from the project. Rian Johnson was also supposed to create a trilogy for the “Star Wars” franchise, but it seems that it was put aside in favor of his franchise “Knives Out”.

In addition to the current “Rogue Squadron” series, Taika Waititi was supposed to create a “Star Wars” film. Although he was announced in 2020, he admitted over the years that he still had not created a script and that the WGA writer’s strike has not helped things.

It is difficult to say with any real certainty what the film “Star Wars” will then release, but “The Mandalorian and Grogu” seems to be a solid bet for a release in 2026. The star of “Barbie”, Ryan Gosling, would have been in stark talks.

In 2023, during the celebration of Star Wars, Kennedy also revealed that the filmmaker “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” James Mangold created a film based on the original story of the force. After the news was announced for the first time in the celebration of Star Wars, Mangold said VarietyThat he was considering a biblical epic for the film, similar to those that were popular in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

“When I spoke for the first time to Kathy Kennedy, I said:” I just see this opening to make a kind of “ben-hur” or “ten commandments” on the birth of the force “”, explained Mangold. “Force has become a kind of religious legend that extends through all these films. But where does it come from? How was it found? Who found it? Who was the first Jedi? This is what I’m writing right now.

At the same time, Daisy Ridley was announced back as Rey for a titleless film “Star Wars” which would take place after the trlilogy in a row. Although Rey is the only character in a row confirmed to return so far, the project has faced many setbacks.

The creator “lost” Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson were initially attached to the project but were released. The creator of “Peaky Blinders”, Steven Knight, was the next one to be hired and drawn from the project. In January 2025, George Nolfi became the new writer in charge of the project; However, it remains to be seen whether the scribe “Ocean’s twelve” will be replaced by someone else.

There have also been questions about Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Canadian-Pakistani journalist who is known for her work in journalism and political activism. Although her involvement has caused some controversy, she won two academies prizes for her work and can provide a unique turn on a far, far galaxy.

It may have taken a while to get here, but that’s all to say that Kathleen Kennedy’s retirement is a good thing. There have been too many announcements on new projects that have never been materialized. There have been a handful of victories, namely “The Bad Batch”, “Star Wars: Visions” and “Skeleton Crew”, but it is difficult to say how much Kennedy had in one of the animated series.

Currently, DC Studios goes through a major overhaul and Lucasfilm must do the same. There is a gold mine of stories that have not yet been told before the Skywalker Saga that fans are always interested in hearing. Although fans are curious to see the fate of the galaxy after the Skywalker saga, it seems risky to go there without a fixed plan in place.

Kathleen Kennedy is not the person to make such a plan for the fate of the galaxy, especially given the way in which the trilogy in a row was seriously managed. This has wasted the potential to bring back the characters inherited significantly, and many fans do not want to be disappointed by looking at the characters of the Trilogy following the same fate.

The powers that really need to think long about the past failures of the franchise and what they can learn from it. It is only then that they can decide who will be the best person to shape the “Star Wars” barrel: both its past and its future. As Qui-Gon Jinn said, “When you know why you are not ready, you will be ready.”