Interviewed onstage Wednesday night at Bloomberg’s annual Screentime event in Los Angeles (her first major interview since her final conversation as Lucasfilm president for Star Wars Insider with my good self), Kathleen Kennedy talked about her time at Lucasfilm, a 14 year period that she admits was hard work (“These jobs are not easy and stepping into something like that that George had created was an incredible challenge“) and here she discusses the highest of highs (The Force Awakens), some of the challenges (the reaction to The Acolyte and the removal of Lord and Miller from Solo) and the task of satisfying existing fans while bringing new fans to the party.
“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 said. “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 looks back at whether it was the right thing to sell Lucasfilm to Disney, a decision Lucas was crystal clear about.
Kennedy joined Lucasfilm in 2012 just before Disney bought the company for $4.05 billion that year. Kennedy pointed out that the purchase came with “an enormous expectation” from the studio. Still, she was adamant that the Disney acquisition was worth it. “Oh, yeah, I think there’s no question,” she said. “And I think Star Wars was a perfect acquisition for Disney and it’s what George wanted. There was no other company he wanted to sell the franchise to other than Disney.”
Now, longtime Star Wars creative Dave Filoni and executive Lynwen Brennan are leading Lucasfilm. And Kennedy is returning to independent producing with the company she shares with her husband, the veteran filmmaker and producer Frank Marshall. She’s not entirely leaving the Star Wars universe, either, as she’s producing the upcoming Ryan Gosling Star Wars: Starfighter movie directed by Shawn Levy.
If you haven’t already, check out the 237th and final issue of the much-missed Star Wars Insider magazine for my interview with Kathleen.