Kathleen Kennedy has reflected on stepping down as Lucasfilm president early this year after 14 years in the role, saying that she felt a lot of relief not having to live up to Star Wars creator George Lucas' legacy anymore.
When asked if she felt "bittersweet" about leaving Lucasfilm during Bloomberg’s annual Screentime event (H/T THR), Kennedy said no. "I suppose there's a bit of relief. These jobs are not easy and stepping into something like that that George [Lucas] had created was an incredible challenge."
Kennedy took over Lucasfilm in 2012, just before Disney bought the company for $4.05 billion, which added a lot of pressure to deliver the goods. Though Kennedy's tenure saw a lot of wins with movies like the sequel trilogy and series Ahsoka, the franchise also saw fans react negatively to some projects like The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew.
But Kennedy says this is the "challenge" that comes with taking over such a beloved franchise with die-hard fans. "You've got people where this means a lot to them. But at the same time, the challenge is to try to create something new, something original. So finding that balance is really the toughest thing." Kennedy said her proudest accomplishments were relaunching the film franchise starting with 2015's The Force Awakens and rolling out Andor and The Mandalorian.
Before leading the Star Wars franchise, Kennedy was a longtime collaborator of Steven Spielberg's, working as a producer on his projects such as Jurassic Park and Lincoln, and other classics like Back to the Future and Gremlins. But when she took over as Lucasfilm president, Kennedy recalls asking Lucas if he had any advice for her on direction on storytelling. "He said, 'No, no, it's all here,'" Kennedy explained, pointing to her head. "I said, 'Okay, well that's going to be interesting to try and mine that.'"
Longtime Star Wars filmmaker Dave Filoni took over as president of Lucasfilm earlier this year. But Kennedy is still involved with the Star Wars world and is producing Shawn Levy's upcoming movie Star Wars: Starfighter, which releases on May 28, 2027
For more, check out our guides to the Star Wars timeline and how to watch Star Wars in order, and keep up with upcoming Star Wars movies and shows on the way.
