After yesterday’s news, people have already made a statement about who will succeed Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm. The Hollywood Reporter even has an article about it, and they have some insightful things to say! Click to get more!
Those guys?
According to THR sources, the reason Kennedy insisted for so long was that there was no other option, and in fact, a person who often deals with LFL leaders said Lucasfilm did a very bad job of training potential successors that he could take over him. So she stayed, simply because no one else could be suitable or willing to take over from her.
Sources said that once Kennedy himself retired, he wanted Rayne Roberts to sit in his seat. If you ask “Who?”, don’t let it bother you, she’s those Kennedy (and more importantly, she also made assistants, the only actual producer credit she worked at LFL (she’s at other Disney) As creative director on the Star Wars project), which could make Disney say “Please do something else now” because as a producer, you are very responsible for the budget and make sure the budget is under control and the end product is actually good, so Rennes ·Rayne Roberts (via Fox) has a small independent studio that makes independent films, so she isn’t in the picture and is as far away as possible from Star Wars, which is certainly the best.
The famous “more than 50% of senior executives” photos taken at Skywalker Ranch since 2016. Rayne Roberts is almost the black woman in the middle of the second row of photos. Kennedy obviously wanted her to take over her. Almost everyone in the photo (everyone except Roberts) is still in 2025 at Lucasfilm or Ilm, but most of the women here are not involved in the creative process, but finance , law and post-production. Source: Hollywood Reporter
Dave Filoni will become the next Lucasfilm president and has decided, a source said. However, no other source confirmed this.
One theory is that not only is there one person who will replace Kennedy, but Favreau and Filoni will take on the role of the creative team, while some experienced manager/producer types will handle all the boring (for creative) business aspects. Kennedy’s role as president and producer is mainly the role of manager, and neither Favreau nor Filoni is actually the one who is qualified for the job or wants to deal with aspects of the job. So it might make sense to pair them with the person who will assume these responsibilities.
But THR also revolves around some other names like Emma Watts, who once oversees the X-Men at Fox, Deadpool and (executives) that made Cameron’s Avatars and things like Alita Battle Angel, so of course she has experience. She is a mother of three and 55 years old, so it might be the right age and experienced, which makes sense why THR would raise her.
But while I don’t think it’s a good idea, I believe Dave Filoni will eventually be announced as (one of Kennedy’s successors) … but maybe not alone, Disney may want to bring him to mind… With Favreau (Favreau controls the creativity of things and may work with some experienced producers who will deal with more bureaucratic aspects of the work (such as managing budgets, contract negotiations, etc.), Filoni is not actually qualified, and Favreau probably doesn’t want Favreau to deal with because he’s more creative than the manager.
Maybe this will be the best solution right now: find someone who handles the business side, but has no say in any creative decisions and asks Favreau and Filoni to take over creative leads. Even though I don’t think Filoni is a good choice, he is the only “real” heir in many ways, regardless of his qualities as a writer or creative leader, he has extensive Star Wars knowledge and knows Company and company franchise from the inside out. Paired with Favreau, at least there is a chance to come up with something like the Mandalorian again.
My own advice is to ask Gilroy to be involved in the creativity of things as well. His Rogue One and Andor are two of the most praised Disney Star Wars Wars releases, and in fact, they are the most acclaimed releases. And it’s always helpful for someone on the team who doesn’t wear fan glasses (i.e. he’s probably a guy who “no” the idea of Filoni’s Sillier, and his weirdness about including Space Whale, Space Wolf and Ahsoka Persist, basically everything is under his supervision).
And, if you are not satisfied with Filoni being part of the solution (maybe not alone, maybe not alone)…ask yourself who else can actually take over? The job of the next Lucasfilm president is not easy, and it is actually probably the toughest job in Hollywood. It offers high rewards, but also comes with extremely high risks, and if Star Wars fails, there may be a career ending. Not many people may want to take over.
Any announcement of the celebration is possible. Who do you actually see as a replacement for Kennedy?
Post So…what is next? First appears in the Jedi Temple archives.
