Kathleen Kennedy is staying as on as President of Lucasfilm for the foreseeable future, according to Disney's CEO. Kennedy has risen through the ranks of Hollywood going from Steven Spielberg's secretary to producing partner, with her first producing credit on 1982's E.T The Extra-Terrestrial. She has been a producer behind some of the most iconic films of the '80s and '90s, including Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and The Sixth Sense, just to name a few. This earned her the attention of George Lucas, who appointed her head of Lucasfilm in 2012 shortly before he sold the company to Disney.
Since becoming head of Lucasfilm, Kennedy has ushered in a new era of Star Wars for Disney that got a soft start in 2014 with the premiere of Star Wars Rebels and then fully took off with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The sequel trilogy, the spin-off films, and the television series under Kennedy have generated a large number of fans, but also harsh critics, who, ever since the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, have spread rumors that Disney would fire Kennedy. Many fans have taken umbrage with Kennedy's choices to diversify the Star Wars characters and the studio losing directors on projects as reasons for her inability to run the company. This has even gone so far as taking away any credit for The Mandalorian away from her and onto Favreau and Filoni, despite the fact that Kennedy greenlit the show and put the two together on the project.
Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, has now affirmed Kennedy's position in the company at a recent Investor Call for Disney. When asked if he would fire Kathleen Kennedy and replace her with someone like Dave Filoni, Chapek dismissed this. Bob Chapek officially said:
We’ve been absolutely thrilled that we can have the kind of talent like Kathy Kennedy to direct Lucasfilm… We look forward to having Kathleen Kennedy running the Lucasfilm organization for many years to come.
From a business standpoint, this makes a great deal of sense. Four of the five Star Wars films Lucasfilm has made since Kennedy became head of the company have generated over $1 billion dollars worldwide with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi being the highest-grossing films of their respective years at the domestic box-office. She has also expanded the Star Wars franchise beyond the films. The newest publishing initiative of the High Republic generated enough fan interest to get Star Wars: The Light of the Jedi to number 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The Mandalorian has been one of the biggest hits in the streaming era, garnering Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and will launch a series of spin-off shows.
With the Skywalker Saga over, Kennedy is now in a position to truly move the Star Wars franchise and Lucasfilm into a new era of storytelling. While there will be more Star Wars series, they also have new Star Wars films from filmmakers like Patty Jenkins, Taikia Waititi, J.D Dillard, and Rian Johnson. The studio is revitalizing old franchises from the Lucasfilm catalog, like Indiana Jones and Willow, while also adapting the popular YA book, Children of Blood and Bone, into a new potential franchise for the company. With all these projects in the works, it appears Disney is more than happy with Kathleen Kennedy's work at the studio.
Source: Disney Investor Call