It’s official. Kathleen Kennedy is leaving Lucasfilm. And, in a new interview talking about the decision, the producer offered updates on several Star Wars movies that may, or may not, be coming in the future.
“Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold, and it’s on hold,” Kennedy told Deadline. “Taika [Waititi] has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.”
The Mangold-Willimon script is the Dawn of the Jedi idea that was first announced at Star Wars Celebration in 2023. The Taika Waititi movie is one Lucasfilm announced way back in 2020, and Glover’s script is about Lando and was first discussed in late 2023. As for the Soderbergh and Driver thing, well, we know.
Oddly, two films that Kennedy doesn’t mention are the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Rey movie and the Dave Filoni Heir to the Empire movie, both of which were announced along with Mangold’s film in 2023. That’s very, very discouraging.
More encouraging is what she has to say about Simon Kinberg’s new trilogy which, though being reworked, is still moving ahead. “[Kinberg] is working right now,” Kennedy said. “He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there. We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.”
So with The Mandalorian and Grogu coming out this year, and Star Wars: Starfighter (which Kennedy says was meant to be a standalone but could, potentially, be sequalized) out next year, what movie is coming next? It won’t be Kennedy’s call anymore, but there are additional thoughts. “Mangold’s is really on the back burner as is Soderbergh’s,” she said. “I think the ones by Taika and Donald are still somewhat alive. That’s going to really be up to the new team to figure out. I know that [new Lucasfilm heads] Dave [Filoni] and Lynwen [Brennan] are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next.”
It seems like it’s good news for fans of Taika Waititi and Donald Glover, but bad news for fans of James Mangold and Rey Skywalker. What do you make of the quotes?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.