After more than a decade at the helm of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy is reportedly preparing to retire, leaving Lucasfilm by the end of 2025, according to a recent report by Puck, with The Hollywood Reporter soon following suit. While rumors of her departure have circulated for years, this time, it appears to be more than just fan speculation.
Take a minute and celebrate with the Yub Nug song…
Yet, as fans rejoice over the potential end of what many view as a disastrous tenure, there’s a harsh truth that must be acknowledged—Kathleen Kennedy may be leaving Lucasfilm, but the damage she inflicted on Star Wars will linger for years to come.
The Fall of Star Wars Under Kathleen Kennedy
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion, Star Wars was the most valuable and evergreen franchise in cinematic history. It had defined generations, inspired countless stories, and built a cultural legacy that seemed unshakable. Enter Kathleen Kennedy—a producer with a storied past working alongside Hollywood legends like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas himself—tasked with steering the franchise into its next golden era.
Instead, she drove it off a cliff.
Kathleen Kennedy via Producer’s Guild of America YouTube
The decline began almost immediately with the sequel trilogy, a mess of inconsistent storytelling and clashing creative visions centered around an unlikable and unremarkable protagonist. Rather than mapping out a cohesive plan, as Marvel had done with its cinematic universe, Kennedy handed full creative control to J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, allowing them to craft their respective films (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) without any overarching roadmap.
The result? A narrative disaster.
Abrams introduced a slate of mysteries in The Force Awakens—from Rey’s parentage to Supreme Leader Snoke’s origins—without any answers. Rian Johnson then took a contrarian approach in The Last Jedi, subverting expectations for the sake of shock value, unraveling many of Abrams’ plot threads and further dividing an already skeptical fanbase. By the time Abrams returned to try and salvage the story with The Rise of Skywalker, the franchise was in disarray. The final film tried desperately to patch up the narrative gaps, but instead became an incoherent mess, ultimately the lowest-grossing entry in the trilogy.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Each film, though technically a financial success, earned less than its predecessor—a telling sign of audience fatigue and waning enthusiasm. Between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the Star Wars franchise experienced its first cinematic bomb with Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Since The Last Jedi in 2019 there has not been another Star Wars theatrical release under Kennedy’s regime.
A Streaming Empire Built on Shaky Foundations
While Kennedy’s stewardship of the Star Wars films left the brand bruised, her foray into streaming television further fractured the franchise. Her apparent obsession with identity-driven storytelling led to a slew of shows that failed to resonate with longtime fans. Even The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm’s one breakout hit, wasn’t immune to her influence. After two strong seasons, the show faltered in its third, sidelining its titular hero in favor of Bo-Katan Kryze—a move that alienated many viewers.
Other streaming projects under her watch fared even worse. Obi-Wan Kenobi—a show that should have been a surefire success—ended up focusing less on Obi-Wan himself and more on new, poorly developed female characters. Ahsoka started with promise as a live action sequel to the popular Rebels animated show, but couldn’t maintain its momentum. Viewership steadily declined week after week.
(L-R): Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) in Lucasfilm’s OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved
The Acolyte became Kennedy’s most glaring failure. Initially propped up by Access Media touting its status as Disney+’s second most-watched series of 2024, a deeper dive into the numbers revealed the harsh reality—it still failed to crack the top ten streaming originals of the year. Worse, viewership plummeted episode after episode, with the finale recording the lowest numbers of the entire series (much like the sequel trilogy. There’s a pattern here).
Skeleton Crew followed the same trajectory, struggling to find any meaningful audience engagement and suffering from mass apathy toward the brand.
Box Office Disasters and Critical Misfires
Kennedy’s abysmal track record isn’t limited to Star Wars failures. Her tenure at Lucasfilm also saw the resurrection—and subsequent destruction—of other beloved franchises. The Willow series on Disney+ was a disaster from start to finish. Instead of focusing on the titular character, the show sidelined Willow in favor of a diverse, female-led cast that failed to capture audience interest (sound familiar?). It performed so poorly that Disney removed it from the platform entirely, opting for a tax write-off rather than keeping it available to subscribers.
(L-R): Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Then came Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a film that epitomized everything wrong with Kennedy’s leadership. Rather than celebrating the iconic character’s final adventure, the film portrayed Indiana Jones as a broken-down relic, outshined by his goddaughter, Helena, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The movie failed epicly at the box office, earning just $383.9 million worldwide on a bloated $402.3 million budget.
Media Spin vs. the Reality of Failure
What’s perhaps most infuriating is how media outlets like The Hollywood Reporter continue to spin Kennedy’s tenure as a success. Their recent write-up praised her for relaunching Star Wars with The Force Awakens and hailed her work on The Mandalorian. Yet they gloss over the long list of canceled projects, like Rian Johnson’s now-defunct trilogy or the shelved D.B. Weiss and David Benioff films, or Kevin Feige’s movie, or Patti Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron film, or the Rey movie that keeps getting pushed back, and so on and so forth.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
The article also highlights the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu movie as a bright spot, but conveniently ignores the fact that the Star Wars brand is more fractured and fatigued than ever before. Even Disney executives seem to recognize this—Kathleen Kennedy was notably absent from the last D23 Expo, where Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni took center stage instead.
Will Star Wars Recover? Don’t Count on It
While news of Kathleen Kennedy leaving Lucasfilm sometime this year has sparked celebrations across the fanbase, it’s important to recognize that her departure doesn’t guarantee a brighter future for Star Wars. Many of the people she installed in leadership roles, including Dave Filoni, will reportedly remain at Lucasfilm. Though Filoni has been more warmly received by fans than Kennedy for his work on The Clone Wars and Rebels, his recent work has seen his reputation dragged through the mud. It remains unclear whether he has the vision or authority to undo the damage Kennedy inflicted over the past decade.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: (L-R) Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, Chief Creative Officer, Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attend the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Moreover, the issues plaguing Star Wars go beyond one person. Disney’s broader push for identity-driven content over strong storytelling has been a recurring problem across its properties, not just Lucasfilm. Unless there’s a fundamental shift in how these projects are conceived and executed, the franchise may continue to struggle, regardless of who sits in the big chair.
The Legacy of Kathleen Kennedy
In the end, Kathleen Kennedy’s time at Lucasfilm will be remembered not for the hits she delivered decades ago alongside Spielberg and Lucas, but for how she squandered one of the most valuable intellectual properties in entertainment history. She took Star Wars—a franchise that practically printed money—and ran it into the ground, leaving behind a fractured fanbase, plummeting viewership, and box office bombs.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Kathleen Kennedy onstage during the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)
If these retirement rumors are true, her exit will mark the end of one of the most contentious eras in Hollywood history. But as fans cautiously hope for a Star Wars renaissance, they should also brace for the reality that the road to recovery will be long and uncertain. Kennedy may be leaving, but the shadow of her failures will loom over the galaxy far, far away for years to come.
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