Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy denied rumors of her retirement and confirmed the next “Star Wars” trilogy in a new interview.
Kathleen Kennedy Not Retiring
“The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring,” Kennedy told Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. “I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies.”
Kennedy did say she has been working on a succession plan for a couple of years with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman.
Kennedy indicated they are searching within the company for a successor, saying, “We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road. We are in lockstep as to what that’s going to be, and I am continuing.”
Deadline mentioned Dave Filoni as a potential successor, to which Kennedy replied that she “can’t say who it is because there’s just an internal process that goes on inside a large corporation and a publicly held company, as to how we go about making deals, finalizing decisions and making announcements. There’s nothing unusual about that, and we’re in that process.”
Kennedy said a succession announcement would probably be made months or years out and that she has “every intention of sticking around to help that person be successful.”
Future of ‘Star Wars’
Kennedy is producing “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” a film follow-up to the Disney+ series releasing on May 22, 2026. After that, she’s producing a “Star Wars” film helmed by Shawn Levy, rumored to star Ryan Gosling.
Kennedy said Levy’s flick is a standalone story that takes place “maybe five or six years” after “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
She also indicated they are “pretty much focused” on the New Republic era of “The Mandalorian,” set between the original trilogy and sequel trilogy.
“We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters,” Kennedy added. That said, Daisy Ridley is set to return as Rey in a sequel directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
In total, Kennedy said there are three or four “Star Wars” projects in active development right now. She confirmed James Mangold is working on a script for his prequel. She also said, “Well, I keep waiting for Taika [Waititi], and he is working with another writer now. He’s so busy. I love him. I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic. I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down, it’s tricky.”
As for the next “Star Wars” trilogy, Kennedy confirmed it’s being developed by Simon Kinberg. Although the details of the new saga are under wraps, Kennedy stated that “This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future.”
“We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously,” she said of the trilogy. “That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June. Simon, if you remember, he did some work with us years ago with the animated show, which was a really wonderful collaborative experience. And he then got very, very busy with ‘X-Men’ and then recently became available again, and he segued into this space beautifully. We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”
Kinberg co-created “Star Wars Rebels” with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck, writing the series premiere and several other episodes. He also consulted on “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.”
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