Kathleen Kennedy will remain as director of Lucasfilm according to Bob Chapek, despite rumors online that the producer would be fired.
Kathleen kennedy He will remain as Lucasfilm president for the foreseeable future, according to the Disney CEO. Kennedy has risen through the ranks of Hollywood from Steven Spielberg’s secretary to production partner, with her first production credit in 1982. ET the alien. She has been the producer behind some of the most iconic films of the 80s and 90s, including Return to the future, Jurassic Park, Y The sixth Sense, Just to name a few. This earned her the attention of George Lucas, who appointed her director of Lucasfilm in 2012 shortly before selling the company to Disney.
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Since becoming director of Lucasfilm, Kennedy has ushered in a new era of Star Wars for Disney which got off to a smooth start in 2014 with the premiere of Star wars rebels and then it took off completely with the launch of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The sequel trilogy, spin-off films, and the television series under Kennedy’s direction have garnered a large number of fans, but also harsh criticism that, since the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi In 2017, rumors have spread that Disney would fire Kennedy. Many fans have taken offense at Kennedy’s decisions to diversify the Star Wars characters and the studio losing directors on projects as reasons for their inability to run the company. This has even gone so far as to detract from The mandalorian away from her and towards Favreau and Filoni, despite the fact that Kennedy gave the show the green light and put the two together on the project.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has now affirmed Kennedy’s position in the company in a recent Investor Call for Disney. When asked if he would fire Kathleen Kennedy and replace her with someone like Dave Filoni, Chapek dismissed him. Bob Chapek officially said:
We are absolutely thrilled that we can have the kind of talent like Kathy Kennedy to run Lucasfilm … We look forward to having Kathleen Kennedy running the Lucasfilm organization for many years to come.
From a business point of view, this makes perfect sense. Four out of five Star Wars The films that Lucasfilm has made since Kennedy became director of the company have generated more than a billion dollars worldwide with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Y Star Wars: The Last Jedi being the highest grossing films of their respective years at the national box office. She has also expanded the Star Wars franchise beyond the movies. The High Republic’s most recent publishing initiative generated enough fan interest to get Star Wars: Light of the Jedi to number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. The mandalorian has been one of the biggest hits in the streaming age, garnering Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and launching a series of spinoff shows.
With the Skywalker saga over, Kennedy is now in a position to really move the Star Wars franchise and Lucasfilm in a new era of storytelling. While there will be more Star Wars series, they also have new Star Wars movies from filmmakers like Patty Jenkins, Taikia Waititi, JD Dillard, and Rian Johnson. The studio is revitalizing old franchises from the Lucasfilm catalog, such as Indiana Jones Y Willow, while adapting the popular book YA, Children of blood and bone, in a new potential franchise for the company. With all these projects in the works, it seems Disney is more than happy with Kathleen kennedy work in the studio.
Source: Disney Investor Call
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