Kathleen Kennedy Renews Lucasfilm Contract Through 2024
Buckle up for this one, folks. You're not going to believe it, but sometimes — read: most of the time — the angry YouTubers are wrong. Despite a cottage industry of sorts springing up and revolving around YouTube accounts who have eagerly anticipated Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's supposedly imminent firing for several years now, reports have come in that her contract has actually been renewed for another three years. If that seems surprising to some, consider that the longtime Hollywood super-producer (credited for such classics as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Back to the Future," "Jurassic Park," "The Sixth Sense," and many, many more) has overseen Lucasfilm during an incredibly highly lucrative period of time. Four out of the five major "Star Wars" movies have grossed over $1 billion each at the box office, "The Mandalorian" has become the flagship series of the Disney+ streaming service, and has put integral creative figures such as Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and others in place to lead "Star Wars" for years to come.
Now, Kathleen Kennedy will reportedly get a chance to continue achieving such return on investment for another three years.
Kathleen Kennedy Re-ups for Another 3 Years
As it turns out, studios tend to consider it a good thing when their leadership figure makes them a lot of money. Who knew! Three years after Lucasfilm renewed Kathleen Kennedy's deal (if you remember, we went through this exact same song and dance in 2018 that we're still doing now), the highly successful executive is staying on as president of Lucasfilm once more. Word of Kennedy's renewal comes from Matthew Beloni's op-ed newsletter (via Screen Rant), which includes the following comment:
"Kennedy has a lot of good things happening at Lucasfilm, and I'm told she recently re-upped her deal for another three years."
Those "good things" obviously refer to the profitability of the recently-concluded Sequel Trilogy, the ongoing "The Mandalorian" series on Disney+, and a wealth of spin-off shows that are already in various stages of development. Of course, it can't be ignored that this comes on the heels of yet another indefinite delay of a major film production that, on this occasion, filmmaker Patty Jenkins was meant to direct. "Rogue Squadron" joins a long list of other "Star Wars" projects that were announced to much buzz and anticipation, only to fizzle out some time later due to scheduling conflicts or the daunting specter of good ol' fashioned creative differences. With the future of "Star Wars" movies somewhat in flux after the uneven conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, there's obviously room for improvement on the big screen. Now, Kennedy will have the time, means, and capability to do so.
Though no official source has weighed in just yet, the successful and widely-respected producer (and Kathleen Kennedy's husband) Frank Marshall took to Twitter and poked some good-natured fun at the specious rumor-mongering that has dogged Kennedy for quite some time now. Let's all cross our fingers that when the time comes for Kennedy to either renew her contract or move on three years from now, we won't have to reiterate this exact same conversation all over again.