Kathleen Kennedy Signs For More Star Wars, Whether You Like It Or Not
She's not going anywhere.
As perhaps one of the most divisive and talked-about figures in Hollywood, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has been at the centre of many discussions surrounding not only the current state of Star Wars, but how we got here, and where the series can go in the coming years.
Well, Disney clearly see a bright future regardless of what myriad film fans and devoted caps lock users would attest, as according to THR, Kennedy has been granted a three year extension of her contract, meaning she'll be sticking around the galaxy far, far away until at least 2021.
Kennedy's list of "crimes" include mismanagement of Star Wars, post-The Force Awakens - though the severity of which depends on who you ask. The facts, revolve around production and hiring.
Firstly, Rogue One saw Kennedy replace director Gareth Edwards with Tony Gilroy at the last minute, and more prominently, her replacing of Christopher Lord and Phil Miller with Ron Howard during filming of Solo arguably contributed to the first ever Star Wars box office bomb.
The Last Jedi too, despite being a champion-able effort of pure tunnel vision filmmaking, remains the most polarising Star Wars movie of all time, precisely because Kennedy let Rian Johnson take the reigns at a critical point in the canon. Even Episode IX's initial director Colin Trevorrow was fired and replaced by J.J. Abrams.
You have to wonder how much social media and the constant eye of an ever-present media highlights these issues more than they would or could have in decades gone by, but either way, here's hoping Kathleen Kennedy's future managerial decisions do right by all involved.