Speaking at Bloomberg’s annual Screentime conference, Kathleen Kennedy took a moment to look back on her 14-year tenure running Lucasfilm.
When asked if handing over the keys felt bittersweet, she pushed back on the idea with a surprisingly candid answer.
"I suppose there’s a bit of relief," Kennedy admitted. "These jobs are not easy, and stepping into something George [Lucas] created was an incredible challenge."
As discussed further on, Kennedy is feeling relief due to no longer having to meet the enormous expectations of Star Wars fanboys coupled with box office and ratings milestones.
From 2012–2026, Lucasfilm released:
- The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
- Two Star Wars Anthology Films: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
- Seven Live-Action Star Wars Disney+ Live-Action Series: The Mandalorian (2019–2023), The Book of Boba Fett (2021), Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Andor (2022–2025), Ahsoka (2023–present), The Acolyte (2024),
- Four Star Wars Disney+ Animated Series: Star Wars: Rebels (2014–2018), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 7, 2020), Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021–2024), Star Wars: Visions (2021–present)
- A misfired Indiana Jones Revival in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
- A sequel Willow TV series that was written off for tax purposes (2022)
Kennedy was asked about the intense backlash she's faced at times from the Star Wars fandom in response to projects that were received less than favorably, and she noted that it was something that just comes with the job of overseeing a franchise with a passionate fanbase.
"Well, I think that that’s the challenge that all franchises [face], certainly something that’s been around now for 50 years. You’ve got people where this means a lot to them,” she commented.
"But at the same time, the challenge is to try to create something new, something original. So finding that balance is really the toughest thing."
She also pointed out that the accomplishments that she's most proud of are some of the projects that fans also loved, naming Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Andor and The Mandalorian TV series.
Conversely, she declined to name any particular projects that she had regrets about, simply stating, "I think you learn things, I always like learning things from the movies that we do, the postmortems we do on what worked, what didn‘t. But I’m always proud of the work that’s been done.”
Following Kathleen Kennedy’s exit in early 2026, Lucasfilm split its top leadership between story and business and tech operations.
Longtime creative architect Dave Filoni stepped up as President and Chief Creative Officer to oversee creative direction across Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Meanwhile, Co-President Lynwen Brennan took charge of business operations, studio strategy, and key tech branches like ILM and Skywalker Sound.