Hollywood insider Ankler has allegedly felt a great disturbance in the Force – Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is set to walk away from Star Wars this September as the Powers That Be seek to bring in “new blood at the helm.”
Before we continue, this is nothing more than a baseless Internet rumor at this point and should be treated as such, but it’s no secret that The Last Jedi proved divisive among fans, resulting in the sequel’s lowly Rotten Tomatoes Audience score and, in the most egregious case, torrents of abuse and harassment being directed at Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), who has since deleted all her social media accounts, prompting an industry-wide condemnation of those toxic Star Wars ‘fans’ responsible for making Tran’s life a misery since December.
It’s a troubling development for the Star Wars community, which often prides itself on inclusion and diversity. But for Lucasfilm brass, it’s now being reported that Kathleen Kennedy’s days at the helm are numbered, as there’s now “talk” of the executive vacating her post by September.
While Kathleen Kennedy worked wonders relaunching this property from the abyss of the Lucas prequel trilogy and turning it into a bigger than ever all-devouring cultural force, there has to be more than some thought that it’s time for new blood at the helm. The talk out there is of a September changing of the guards. We’ll see.
It’s a stretch, of course, as Kennedy has been instrumental in the relaunch of Star Wars, and has been actively involved in the creation of all four properties – from The Force Awakens right up until Solo: A Star Wars Story – thus far. And, frankly, we can’t imagine the mindless screams for Kennedy to resign have had much of an effect on Lucasfilm’s creative process, so take this rumor with a pinch of salt.
Regardless, the Star Wars franchise continues late next year with the release of Episode IX – with or without Kathleen Kennedy in the driving seat.
