What do you call someone with the power to destroy one of the most valuable entertainment and merchandising franchises of all time?
With any luck, we're about to call her, "Kathleen Kennedy, first of her name, destroyer of Star Wars, and former head of Lucasfilm." And you'll forgive me if I add "Too late!" to my description of the long-awaited end of Kennedy's tenure.
Puck's Matthew Belloni reports today (paywall, sorry) that 2026 will finally be Kennedy's last as president of Lucasfilm. "In the next week or two, Disney will finally confirm what we’ve all known for months: Kathleen Kennedy is indeed stepping down as Lucasfilm president, and Dave Filoni, currently the chief creative officer of the Star Wars unit, will be elevated into the top job."
Ten years ago, I would have jumped up and down at the news that Filoni was taking over, but after squandering The Mandalorian and completely wasting Rosario Dawson in whatever the hell Ahsoka was supposed to be, these days I'm less excited.
But back to Kennedy.
She took over Lucasfilm after Disney bought the company from founder George Lucas in 2012, and her performance can be described in just six words: She couldn't make money on Star Wars.
Emphasis added. Because HOLY SHI'ITE.
I ran the numbers last year, and this is what I found: "My back-of-the-envelope math indicates that Disney has spent $7.35 billion acquiring and producing Star Wars entertainment and generated $6.41 billion in revenues we can see." Disney+ streaming revenues can't be attributed to any particular show or property, but except for the little-watched Andor and the first two seasons of Mando, Disney's live-action Star Wars TV shows haven't scored well with critics or audiences.
And you can forget about all that fabulous toy revenue. Nine-year-old boys aren't exactly clamoring for Rose Tico or Admiral Holdo action figures.
"If Disney has realized an actual profit on its $4.05 billion Lucasfilm investment, I'd be shocked," I concluded then, and that was before we learned that Kennedy spent nearly a quarter of a billion dollars (!!!) producing and marketing The Acolyte for Disney+.
That show was unceremoniously canceled, and showrunner Leslye Headland was exiled back to writing lesbian arthouse fare. The Acolyte is often regarded by audiences and critics as probably the worst Star Wars anything ever made — except, of course, for the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. But that's an odd case, since the Holiday Special cost almost nothing to produce, and most of that seems to have been spent on cocaine.
Pretty much, yeah. But what's Kennedy's excuse?
She's also shown a complete lack of corporate discipline, having announced and then quietly killed no fewer than eight live-action Star Wars projects — including two new trilogies:
- Boba Fett Spin-Off Movie (Josh Trank, 2015): Originally part of the A Star Wars Story anthology films, this project was abandoned after Trank left the film amid production issues.
- Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic (2020): Announced as a spin-off of The Mandalorian, likely to star Gina Carano’s Cara Dune. The project was quietly shelved after Carano was removed from Lucasfilm.
- David Benioff & D.B. Weiss’ Star Wars Trilogy (2018-2019): The Game of Thrones creators were hired to develop a new trilogy, rumored to focus on the origins of the Jedi. They later exited due to commitments with Netflix.
- Patty Jenkins’s Rogue Squadron (2020-2023): Originally set for a December 2023 release, this film was indefinitely delayed and later removed from Lucasfilm’s schedule.
- Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy (2017 - ?): Announced after The Last Jedi, but Johnson has since been focused on his Knives Out series, leaving the trilogy in limbo.
- Kevin Feige’s Star Wars Movie (2019-2023): The Marvel Studios president was developing a Star Wars film, but it was reported in 2023 that the project was no longer moving forward.
- James Mangold’s Boba Fett Film (before 2018): Logan director James Mangold was rumored to direct a Boba Fett movie before the project was scrapped.
- Damon Lindelof’s Star Wars Movie (2022-2023): Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen) was working on a Star Wars film but left the project in early 2023. It later evolved into the New Jedi Order film with a different writer. New Jedi Order might make it nine, since the project seems to be in limbo — at best.
Kennedy is reckless. She should have been ungraciously defenestrated years ago. Instead, she's apparently allowed to retire with dignity.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've been down this road. Last February, I dedicated an entire Thursday Essay to previous chatter of Kennedy's impending exit, only to have my hopes dashed. Actually, there were just a few lines about the chatter. The remaining 2,000-plus words were devoted to the damage she'd done.
And now, upon a new rumor of her exit, I've had to do it again.
Please, Kathleen, don't make me write a trilogy.
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