Kathleen Kennedy is, perhaps, receiving a contract extension at Lucasfilm. You’ve heard about that, right? It’s supposed to be in October, but usually these things are announced far prior. So far that hasn’t happened, although my sources and my reporting has been it’s going to… just not necessarily out of the joy of Bob Chapek’s heart. This may be one of those damned if she stays damned if she doesn’t situations.
How interesting it is, then, that Marcia Lucas is weighing in on the situation with Star Wars. Lucas, being the ex-wife of George Lucas, and she having received an Oscar for essentially saving Star Wars: A New Hope (the first one) in the edit.
George Lucas' ex-wife, Marcia Lucas, has some harsh words about the #StarWars Sequel trilogy. "Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about Star Wars. [They] don’t get the Jedi story. [They] don’t get the magic of Star Wars," she said. (Via: StarWars_Direct) pic.twitter.com/8vGprUvSCG
— Binge Watch This (@BingeWatchThis_) September 20, 2021
“She [Kathleen Kennedy] was full of beans. She was really smart and really bright. Really wonderful woman. And I liked her husband, Frank. I liked them a lot. Now that she’s running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about ‘Star Wars.’ They don’t get it. And JJ Abrams is writing these stories — when I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious. I was furious when they killed Han Solo. Absolutely, positively there was no rhyme or reason to it. I thought, You don’t get the Jedi story. You don’t get the magic of ‘Star Wars.’ You’re getting rid of Han Solo?” — Marcia Lucas in “A Producer’s Life“
Is this 4D Chess? Is this an attempt to tank Kathleen Kennedy’s chances of completing the contract extension with Disney in the eleventh hour? It’s certainly bizarre, if only because of how honest it is.
Whatever happens with Kennedy, Disney is stuck in an awful situation with Lucasfilm. I’m told that Kennedy has various contracts written in such a way as to protect her as a hands-on executive producer of Indy 5, so Disney may not be able to fully divorce her. Simultaneously, Disney is doing everything in their power to not harm their relationship with the Russo Brothers any further. Kennedy leaving in a climactic huff could potentially do that.
But give credit to Marcia Lucas. She has come out swinging at the Lucasfilm intelligentsia, and clearly she would be at least one authoritative person to listen to when she says, “they don’t get it.”