Kathleen Kennedy Expected to Retire from Lucasfilm at the End of 2025

Kathleen Kennedy, the current President of Lucasfilm, is expected to step down from the position at the end of 2025, according to Puck News.

Kennedy has overseen the studio since George Lucas sold it to Disney in 2012, a period of nearly 13 years. She’s currently 71.

She was handpicked by Lucas to lead the studio’s franchise into the future, particularly ‘Star Wars’ but also ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Willow’.

Her tenure at Lucasfilm will be viewed by many as mixed, as while she oversaw ‘Star Wars’ back to box office success (apart from ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’), an expansion of live action ‘Star Wars’ series, and new ‘Star Wars’ video games, each area was marred by controversy and debate.

Some of those difficulties persist to this day, after 2020 many different ‘Star Wars’ movie projects were announced or leaked, though so far none have come to fruition. 

Outside of ‘Star Wars’, franchises like ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Willow’ were also revived, but the fifth ‘Indiana Jones’ film failed to be a box office success and the ‘Willow’ TV sequel series was removed from Disney+ shortly after it aired. It is not able to be watched legally. 

While Kennedy stepping down is yet to be confirmed by either Lucasfilm or Disney, many eyes will now look to who will be Kennedy’s successor to the role, as they lead Lucasfilm in an uncertain media landscape. 

Speculation on who will take the top job includes Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kevin Feige, and J.J. Abrams according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Fans will hope that official confirmation will come from Lucasfilm at ‘Star Wars Celebration’ in April.