Kathleen Kennedy Extends Contract as Lucasfilm President Through 2021

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has re-upped her contract to remain president of the company for another three years. The contract would take her through 2021. This is despite some false rumors suggesting that she would be fired from her position or step down this year.

Per the report, the move is seen as a vote of confidence of Kennedy, who took over as president of the company after George Lucas sold it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012 for $4 billion. Under her tenure, Kennedy oversaw the relaunch of the Star Wars film franchise, which have collectively grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide. Additional ancillary and merchandising rights have also brought in billions of more dollars to the studio.

Kennedy’s regime has not been without controversy. She’s fired or replaced directors for multiple Star Wars projects. Chris Lord and Phil Miller were both unceremoniously fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story more than midway through production in June 2017. They were later replaced by Ron Howard, who reshot more than half the film, less than a year before its May 2018 release. It was a costly effort that added to the lack of profits for that film. The film reportedly lost Disney up to $80 million or more.

Additionally, Rogue One also saw controversy when original director Gareth Edwards was replaced late into the film’s production by Tony Gilroy, who oversaw reshoots. Edwards kept his directing credit by playing ball with Lucasfilm. Lastly, Colin Trevorrow was let go from Episode IX as writer-director and later replaced by The Force Awakens filmmaker J.J. Abrams

However, The Last Jedi and Rogue One both crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. The Force Awakens reached over $2 billion at the worldwide box office, and $936 million of that amount came from domestic receipts. For the most part, the tenure of Kathleen Kennedy as president of Lucasfilm has garnered a great deal of success and profit for parent company Disney.

Disney CEO Bob Iger did indicate in a recent THR interview this month that Disney intends to slow down its output of Star Wars films. He stated, “You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to make films.”

The next planned Star Wars film is Episode IX. The film is currently in production and is due out on December 20, 2019.