After 13 years at Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy is expected to retire by the end of the year. The Puck (via THR) has reported that Kennedy has told Disney, friends, and associates. Representatives for Kennedy and Lucasfilm have not commented on the matter.

The announcement comes just as Star Wars Celebration is set to take place in Tokyo, Japan on April 18-20. It will be very interesting to see what news comes out regarding the future of the franchise of a “galaxy far far away”.

KATHLEEN KENNEDY’S WORK WITH LUCASFILM IN FILM

In 2012 Kennedy joined Lucasfilm as co-chair with Star Wars creator George Lucas. Only a few months later, Disney shocked the world by buying the company for $4 billion. At that point, Lucas left the company and Kennedy took over. The Star Wars franchise was then relaunched with a new feature film trilogy starting with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, “Rouge One: A Star Wars Story” in 2016, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in 2017, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in 2018, and “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” in 2019.

While it was quite an achievement to be able to release one feature film a year, from 2015 to 2019, by the final film, there had been growing mixed reviews, which translated into less revenue. Kennedy’s job at Lucasfilm was always under a microscope, with nostalgic fans who were always looking to fill that joy and thrill that the original films delivered. But who were also ready to criticize and complain at every point, sometimes with good reason.

One of Kennedy’s more controversial moments included firing Chris Lord and Phil Miller. This during the production of “Solo: A Star Wars Story”. A move that may have proved costly. It became the film became the first Star Wars franchise film to lose money in theaters. In her time there have also been a lot of projects that were announced that were never developed, despite excitement at several Star Wars events. Since then the Star Wars franchise has struggled to make it back to the big screen.

FINDING SUCCESS ON STREAMING

In the meantime, on the small screen, Star Was has been able to find some success. Via Disney+, “The Mandalorian” has been arguably their biggest hit, introducing one of the franchise’s most popular characters, Grogu. Several other series have been released since then. Some better than others, including the critically-acclaimed “Andor”, which is ready to return in April for the second and final season.

ALSO SEE: ‘ANDOR’ SEASON 2 TRAILER – GET READY FOR MORE OF THE BEST STAR WARS PROJECT

That streaming success has led to the development and release of “The Mandalorian and Grogu”. The feature film is scheduled to be released on May 22, 2026. This will be the first time a Star Wars film will be released in theaters post-pandemic.