Wow, oh wow…what a day for fans of Star Wars and the televised galaxy far, far away as the stars of Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and Andor come together – no photoshoppery here – for the cover of the 20th May edition of Vanity Fair. There are words from all four actors, the teams behind the camera and the boss of all things Star WarsKathleen Kennedy who has some fascinating things to say about the current state and future of the galaxy.
“We have a road map,” Kennedy says, although Lucasfilm’s big-screen return is unlikely to follow the same relentless cadence as before. A movie from Jojo Rabbit’s Taika Waititi and 1917 screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns will likely arrive first, with Rogue Squadron from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins further off. Is it true that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce a Star Wars film? “I would love to see what movie he might come up with,” Kennedy says. “But right now, no, there isn’t anything specifically.” And the trilogy from The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson that was announced five years ago? Back-burnered. “Rian has been unbelievably busy with Knives Out and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies.”
The emphasis on television is already influencing the upcoming film slate. “I hesitate to use the word trilogies anymore because Star Wars is much more about persistent storytelling,” Kennedy says. Now she just needs to recruit feature filmmakers.
On March 19, Kennedy and Lucas received the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America, and something happened to her while watching the video montage. The clips of the pair over the decades included a shirtless Lucas in a squirt-gun battle with Steven Spielberg, and Kennedy and Lucas joking around in a production-disrupting downpour. “What I was so taken with is how much fun we were having,” she says. “It amounted to this moment of realization: I do think a little bit of fun has gone out of making these gigantic movies. The business, the stakes, everything that’s been infused in the last 10 years or so. There’s a kind of spontaneity and good time that we have to be careful to preserve. I keep holding on to: It better be fun.”
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in 1981 and been a presence online since his first webpage Fanta War in 1996. He currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com and Star Wars Insider, having previously written for StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Starburst Magazine, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia and Model and Collectors Mart.
He is a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host, the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015, the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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Wow, oh wow…what a day for fans of Star Wars and the televised galaxy far, far away as the stars of Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and Andor come together – no photoshoppery here – for the cover of the 20th May edition of Vanity Fair. There are words from all four actors, the teams behind the camera and the boss of all things Star WarsKathleen Kennedy who has some fascinating things to say about the current state and future of the galaxy.
“We have a road map,” Kennedy says, although Lucasfilm’s big-screen return is unlikely to follow the same relentless cadence as before. A movie from Jojo Rabbit’s Taika Waititi and 1917 screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns will likely arrive first, with Rogue Squadron from Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins further off. Is it true that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce a Star Wars film? “I would love to see what movie he might come up with,” Kennedy says. “But right now, no, there isn’t anything specifically.” And the trilogy from The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson that was announced five years ago? Back-burnered. “Rian has been unbelievably busy with Knives Out and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies.”
The emphasis on television is already influencing the upcoming film slate. “I hesitate to use the word trilogies anymore because Star Wars is much more about persistent storytelling,” Kennedy says. Now she just needs to recruit feature filmmakers.
On March 19, Kennedy and Lucas received the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America, and something happened to her while watching the video montage. The clips of the pair over the decades included a shirtless Lucas in a squirt-gun battle with Steven Spielberg, and Kennedy and Lucas joking around in a production-disrupting downpour. “What I was so taken with is how much fun we were having,” she says. “It amounted to this moment of realization: I do think a little bit of fun has gone out of making these gigantic movies. The business, the stakes, everything that’s been infused in the last 10 years or so. There’s a kind of spontaneity and good time that we have to be careful to preserve. I keep holding on to: It better be fun.”
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in 1981 and been a presence online since his first webpage Fanta War in 1996. He currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com and Star Wars Insider, having previously written for StarWars.com, Star Wars Encyclopedia, Build The Millennium Falcon, Starburst Magazine, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia and Model and Collectors Mart.
He is a four-time Star Wars Celebration Stage host, the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015, the Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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