Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy shared in a new quote what she has planned for the future of Star Wars, and it is going to be good news for fans who have been bristling with the franchise's recent output. Since 2012, Kennedy has served as president of the renowned film studio, watching over its Star Wars-based efforts under the Disney umbrella. However, in recent years, she (along with the rest of the Star Wars franchise) has been in hot water with some fans, as certain corners of the Star Wars-viewing audience took umbrage with the lack of theatrical output, focus on building sagas vs. individual stories, and lackluster quality overall.
Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, just provided an update on the future of Star Wars that will be exciting for fans who have been skeptical of the brand's more recent works. This quote comes as the series is getting set to turn the page on a new era, with the release of its first theatrical movie in over five years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, in 2026, as well as a sweeping slate of original films set across the Star Wars timeline.
In an interview with Variety about an upcoming screening of George Lucas' first cut of the original Star Wars (something that has not been publicly screened in over 30 years), Kennedy got into where she sees the beloved sci-fi franchise going in the next few years, confirming there will be a focus on standalone stories.
"We’re in a position where it’s broadened the possibility... filmmakers we can bring in," the Lucasfilm boss posited, adding that there is currently an emphasis at the studio on "[telling] stories that mean something to them" regardless to if they connect to something within the franchise already or not:
"I really think that now we’re in a position where it’s broadened the possibility of stories and filmmakers we can bring in to tell stories that mean something to them – it doesn’t necessarily have to connect to every little thing thats been done in 'Star Wars.'"
This starkly contrasts Lucasfilm's perceived strategy of the last decade and change (really since Disney bought it) of expanding on or filling in blanks within the story already there from George Lucas' time at the head of the franchise.
Kennedy added that new stories within the Star Wars canon do not necessarily need to lead to some sweeping story expansion and can be "a standalone story" that could potentially lead to more if there is potential there:
"It can actually be a standalone story that then builds into many many other stories."
Star Wars will return to theaters next year with the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu, which will build off the highly successful Pedro Pacasl Disney+ streaming series, The Mandalorian.
While that movie seems to very much be in the vein of Lucasfilm's previous strategy, beyond that, with films like Star Wars: Starfighter and The First Jedi by Logan director James Mangold, it feels like Kennedy and co. seem serious about this change in tune.
Why Star Wars Needs To Change
Over the last decade, but especially since the release of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, fans have been clamoring for Lucasfilm to reevaluate its creative strategy.
This pressure point became an exceptionally touchy subject for some as theatrical project after theatrical project from the studio seemed to get announced and quietly shelved.
Titles like Taika Waititi's Star Wars movie, a project from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, and Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron all seemed to get kicked to the curb, leaving the franchise without a theatrical release for over half a decade.
Meanwhile, the franchise began to flounder on streaming with shows like The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Acolyte, earning middling to bad reviews from fans. One of the biggest complaints of all three of these projects (plus several others) has been that they felt like they had been meddled with in some way or another by the studio itself.
It seemed like a creative retooling was in order, which looks to be precisely what is happening.
Fans have long called for Lucasfilm to let creators create within the Star Wars universe and then focus on franchise potential after the fact. Audiences just got a taste of this with the recent releases of Jon Watts' Skeleton Crew and Tony Gilroy's Andor.
Yes, both series fit within the confines of the current Star Wars canon, but they offered a singular vision of the beloved sci-fi franchise by a talented creator like Watts or Gilroy telling the story they wanted to tell.
That is what the brand should lean into going forward: greenlighting a pitch from an enthusiastic creator and then getting out of the way. Whether it takes place within the current timeline or not should not matter, and whether it has quote/unquote franchise potential should not matter.
Hopefully, these quotes are just the beginning of a creative renaissance for the Star Wars brand, with next year's The Mandalorian and Grogu kicking off a new era for the Hollywood staple.
