Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has addressed recent reports suggesting her retirement from the company in late 2025. Earlier reports in Puck News claimed Kennedy planned to retire at the end of her contract this year, adding that she had previously considered retirement in 2024. While Variety cited a source dismissing the reports as speculation, The Hollywood Reporter corroborated the original claims.
Kennedy has now directly refuted these reports. According to Deadline, she is collaborating with Disney CEO Bob Iger on a succession plan after 13 years at the helm. Dave Filoni, creator of Star Wars Rebels and Lucasfilm's current chief creative officer, is reportedly a strong contender to succeed her. However, Kennedy emphatically stated, “The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies.”
While acknowledging Lucasfilm intends to announce a succession plan in the coming months or year, Kennedy confirmed her continued employment at Lucasfilm. This includes overseeing production of the upcoming Mandalorian movie and a Star Wars film directed by Shawn Levy. Although a transition is planned, Kennedy clarified this doesn't signify her departure from the company or retirement from filmmaking.
She explained, “I’m not going to be here forever. George [Lucas] asked me 13 years ago to step in, and now I’m looking at who’s going to replace me. And as I said, we have a bench of people internally to handle the business, the creative side. The job has grown also since I stepped in. There was no streaming, there weren’t a lot of the things that we’re involved in right now going on. So it has grown.”
Kennedy also denied reports suggesting she was being forced out, emphasizing that this was “absolutely not the case” and “could not be further from the truth.” Her tenure has overseen the sequel trilogy (Episodes VII-IX), and the expansion of the Star Wars franchise into streaming with series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and The Acolyte. While some projects, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, were box office successes, others have faced criticism and some, such as Solo: A Star Wars Story, were financially unsuccessful.
When directly asked if she would step down as Lucasfilm president this year, Kennedy responded that she didn’t know “at this stage,” but affirmed the decision would be “100% my decision.” She declined to comment on whether Filoni was the frontrunner for her position.
