Is pressure building to sunset Kathleen Kennedy out of her position at Lucasfilm, and is that why she’s pushing a Waititi Star Wars release so soon?
For the first time in my history, I’m starting to hear and relay that Kathleen Kennedy’s time may be coming to an end at Lucasfilm. For longtime readers of the site and of my publications, you may recall that back in September of 2021, I was one of the only voices out there claiming that Kathleen Kennedy had both frustrated Bob Chapek’s leadership team and probably earned a contract extension. This was prior to the announcement that her contract was being extended, so it goes to show that I try to relay accurate information as it comes in, whether or not it aligns with what I think should happen behind the scenes. Here’s what I had to say back then:
Of course, since May things have changed again. The number one rule for Indiana Jones 5 was safety, yet Kennedy was present for filming in Scotland and Harrison Ford still was injured to the point he still hasn’t started filming again. Word around Hollywood is that the film’s budget has ballooned due to the situation, something that isn’t uncommon for Mrs. Kennedy’s tenure at Lucasfilm. I’m told the Indiana Jones situation has created more friction between Kennedy and Chapek’s team.
Yet at the same time, Kennedy is almost certainly going to have her contract extended. According to sources, the contract negotiations were finalized sometime in very late August, despite the contract having been originally planned (reportedly) to be finalized in June. One source that has been right very often in the past claims that Kennedy’s new contract will be for 1-2 years. Given that Kathleen Kennedy just turned 70 years old, that seems probable to me. And, based on what I’ve been told, the real reason Kennedy is sticking around is to see Indiana Jones 5 through to completion. That would be the completion of her career, as well as quite a few others.
— Kathleen Kennedy Almost Certain to Receive Contract Extension
If you’re reading this article today, you may be arriving because of the latest Overlord DVD YouTube video starring Doomcock. I did indeed send him some information as to what I’ve been hearing lately. And just as he always is careful to call a rumor a rumor, I want to also be careful to fully disclose that the information I’m providing is discussing the future. As such, I cannot verify that it will absolutely occur. I can’t absolutely confirm that I’ll drink coffee in the morning (even though it’s extremely likely), little alone tell you exactly what will happen with a major corporation. What I can do is speculate a bit based on what my sources are telling me, and then you can go back and see if my track record is decent enough to enjoy this with a grain of salt. I didn’t lead you astray on Kathleen Kennedy’s contract extension and I didn’t get the Harrison Ford injury from last year wrong — maybe I know a little bit about Lucasfilm. Maybe.
So let’s dive into the rumors I’m hearing. I’ll be speaking broad terms to protect sources and to avoid any direct statements of fact. I do not make any claims about having seen private documents or having access to private/company conversations. Please treat this as speculation and rumor only.
“You know that’s why she’s pushing the Taika Waititi 2023 movie launch, right?”
That was the comment from a contact I have who was explaining what she believes is going on with Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm. Suddenly it began to all click for me and things were making sense. What I had been hearing for years is that Kathleen Kennedy wants to finish Indiana Jones 5 and she wants to continue having Star Wars influence… but I’ve also been hearing for months now that relations between herself and Jon Favreau are strained. Favreau allegedly has the ear of Bob Chapek, a corporate leader who trusts Favreau based on his decades of excellence. And Favreau is not the kind of person to throw anyone under the bus. If you’d like to know what kind of person Jon Favreau is, look no farther than the way he handled Will Ferrell on the set of Elf. Despite Ferrell doing everything in his power to undermine the film, undermine the director, and even force Favreau out of directing the sequel, Favreau has never spoken ill of Ferrell to my best knowledge.
“The director and Will didn’t get along very well. Will wanted to do it, and he didn’t want the director, and [Favreau] had it in his contract. It was one of those things.”
But even though Favreau doesn’t go public with his beefs, he’s been biding his time now watching Star Wars falter. Rumors abound that Kathleen Kennedy went behind his back on the Book of Boba Fett and made it more difficult to accomplish success with the series. A Variety photo shoot made even more people question the relationship as Favreau looked genuinely unhappy. Valliant Renegade brought up in a conversation with me a time when Favreau quieted Kennedy during a conversation publicly — that’s a big no-no for any male Hollywood figure. Yet he did it.
The problem for Disney is that they want to keep Favreau working on Star Wars while also consulting with him on a broader spectrum of projects. At the same time, he’s being thwarted by the ineptitude of Kathleen Kennedy. Equally important, Favreau could walk at any point and make a huge sum of money from any other studio in the world. He is one of the most coveted creators on the planet. While I don’t think he wants to walk from Disney necessarily and in full, I am hearing that he’s now growing tired of Star Wars and its inability to escape the influences of Kennedy’s Lucasfilm.
So what is Disney to do?
Well, as I relayed to Overlord DVD, I think there’s something special about 2023. I think that Kathleen Kennedy may finally sunset her obligations at that point. It will likely be late 2023, and of course plenty can change between now and then. But I do think that Kennedy’s push for the next Star Wars movie so quickly is a tell… it’s a tell that she wants to get something out on the box office quickly to prove to the world that Star Wars was alive and well before her exit. I think that exit isn’t too far away. There are simply too many mistakes, there is too much pressure inside the company to begin purging out executives who aren’t producing success, and Bob Chapek has shored up his power to make changes that would have been very difficult up until the last month.
So why would I be saying all of this? Is it just mere personal thoughts? Well… let’s put it this way: if you were wanting to push out Kathleen Kennedy from her position at Lucasfilm, don’t you think there would be some movement beforehand to prepare a transition?
If you’re hanging in there until now, check out the Overlord DVD video that went up today and see what you think. There is some language in there, so be careful about playing it out loud at work or in the car with kids. It’s also viciously funny in places.
Final food for thought: If Kennedy leaves in later 2023, that gives just enough time for Chapek to get someone else in there to produce a Star Wars film that is definitively Chapek’s doing… just in time for his next potential contract extension. Hmm.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.