Lucasfilm Officially Has New Leadership

As rumors for the last six or so months, it is now official. Kathleen Kennedy is no longer president of Lucasfilm. The long time producer was placed in charge of the company after Disney acquired it back in 2012 where she oversaw the relaunch of the franchise to theaters and TV with various levels of success. She will continue to work in the Star Wars universe as producer on current and probably future Star Wars films so to a small degree her previous subordinates will become her bosses. Those new bosses are Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan as co-presidents of Lucasfilm. 

Filoni will also keep his role as Chief Creative Officer. Filoni began working on Star Wars after directing 8 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. He began work at Lucasfilm in 2005 and from there helped create the animation side of the company with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rebels and more. He then helped launch live action Star Wars TV with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka and now moving into the movie side where he wrote and directed Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu which hits theaters on May 22, 2026.

Lynwen Brennan was vice-president of Lucasfilm, starting in ILM in 1999, rising through the ranks over the years to General Manager of Lucasfilm in 2015 which is more or less an executive vice president role. Her role in the new company is to handle all the business side work that it takes to manage a company so Filoni is free to work on the creative side.

Kennedy commented on leaving saying "When George Lucas asked me to take over Lucasfilm upon his retirement, I couldn’t have imagined what lay ahead. It has been a true privilege to spend more than a decade working alongside the extraordinary talent at Lucasfilm. Their creativity and dedication have been an inspiration, and I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together. I’m excited to continue developing films and television with both longtime collaborators and fresh voices who represent the future of storytelling"

What all this means long term is too soon to say. I wouldn't expect an increase in output as Disney has put the brakes on pumping out content to Disney+. Next two years will bring The Mandalorian movie and Star Wars: Starfighter set for May 28, 2027. TV side has Ahsoka season 2 and Maul: Shadow Lord animated series to come so next two years of Star Wars content is more or less set.

In an exit interview with Deadline, Kennedy mentioned they do have multiple scripts available to possibly plan the next iteration of Star Wars saying "Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script [Dawn of the Jedi], but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold. Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script [Lando]. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns [Kylo Ren movie]. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk." 

The risk comment is not directed at Filoni but at Disney executives as they have final say on what movies Lucasfilm can produce. Kennedy also mentioned a Simon Kinberg's trilogy is still a possibility. Currently he has completed a new treatment and working on providing a possibly script later in the year. Basically all the rumored movies, and there are many, are in possibly in play but until production starts on one, that doesn't mean much.