If anything defines Kathleen Kennedy's time as Lucasfilm President, it will likely be the sheer number of announced Star Wars projects that have failed to materialise.
Movies from Kevin Feige, Patty Jenkins, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss fell by the wayside, as have stories revolving around characters like Ben Solo, Yoda, and Rey, the latter of which is now being tackled by a fourth writer.
Discussing her exit from Lucasfilm with Deadline (via SFFGazette.com), Kennedy provided several updates on the Star Wars slate. While we'd imagine it's subject to change and evolve with Dave Filoni calling the shots, there are some big reveals here.
Confirming that Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter "was envisioned as a single film," she praised newcomer Flynn Gray and added, "I will be very surprised if he doesn’t go on and we don’t try to see if there might be future stories. But it was kind of nice not going into this and not having to think that way. We could just make a movie and tell a story."
Kennedy went on to reveal that, over the years, she met with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler ("Star Wars isn’t really Ryan's thing"), David Fincher, Vince Gilligan, and Alex Garland, none of whom committed to telling stories in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
"Not everybody is going to just go, 'Oh yeah, great. I’m going to drop everything and spend the next three to five years trying to figure this out,'" she said. "That’s the other thing to consider. These are really complicated, difficult movies to make, far more than I think people give them credit for. People have to set their lives aside for years."
As for the movies announced or developed during her time in charge of Lucasfilm, they're almost all on hold, including The First Jedi and The Hunt for Ben Solo.
"I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here. Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold. Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script."
"And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk."
Kennedy went on to say that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson's Star Wars trilogy didn't come to fruition because he became "occupied" by his Knives Out movies. It seems the response to Episode VII was another factor. "I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked."
Now, for what many of you will likely consider bad news: X-Men: Dark Phoenix writer and director Simon Kinberg's trilogy is moving full steam ahead.
"He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there," Kennedy stated. "We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago."
"Mangold’s is really on the back burner as is Soderbergh’s. I think the ones by Taika and Donald are still somewhat alive. That’s going to really be up to the new team to figure out. Dave, I know that Dave and Lynwen are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy," she concluded.
The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, has confirmed that Filoni's planned Star Wars crossover movie—bringing together characters from the Mandoverse—is also on hold.