According to some new Barside Buzz, Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan will co-president Lucasfilm upon Kathleen Kennedy’s impending exit. The news comes from Puck’s Matthew Belloni, ex-trade editor and therefore not a source who makes up stories. That being said, this is based on Belloni’s sources and does not have the weight of a trade behind it. Ergo, I’m marking it as Barside Buzz. My instinct however, tells me this is legit. Or at least Belloni’s (good) sources are telling him it is.
The facts are, that Kennedy is leaving her post as president of Lucasfilm. That we know from the producer’s mouth. When that transition will happen is open to debate.
However, Jeff Sneider always said January, 2026 and this matches a few little things I heard as well, plus some other insiders. These things are never black and white though. As I said in an article yesterday, (link below) Kennedy was supposed to have the New Jedi Order movie starring Ridley underway before she left. Kennedy also said she would continue in a producer role for any projects began under her tenure. Therefore, It was never a complete break for Kennedy. at least not immediately.
Filoni is the current chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, as I’m sure you are aware. Brennan is current president and general manager of Lucasfilm Business. Thus, I think it fairly obvious that where Kennedy was able to cover both these sides of the business, Lucasfilm has decided they need a specialist in each field. Filoni on the creative side, Brennan on the nuts and bolts and watching the purse strings and marketing.
RELATED: MandoVerse On Disney+ On Hold Till Ahsoka Season 2 Plus More Star Wars Rumors | Barside Buzz
Puck says the news will be confirmed officially within the coming weeks. How quick that will be, who knows? The fact the story is now out there could prompt Lucasfilm to bite the bullet and make an announcement early. Instead, they may just ignore the news and carry on with their current plans.
If Kennedy does leave soon, then there are several projects she will seemingly remain involved in. The Mandalorian and Grogu is almost finished, but we have Starfighter in 2027. Add to that the delays in production on the New Jedi Order movie and a few TV shows and Kennedy’s hand will be felt for some time to come. Kennedy may even be involved with the Simon Kinberg trilogy being developed now, but that remains to be seen.
Kennedy’s tenure will likely be most remembered for the failures rather than the successes. The sequel trilogy was… badly managed, badly planned and Kennedy chose the wrong quarterback in J. J. Abrams, who went on to direct the worst Star Wars film to date in The Rise of Skywalker. This essentially killed Star Wars at the box office and the move to TV whilst initially successful eventually had as many L’s than W’s. The peak of Kennedy’s tenure was clearly TV series Andor. The trough may be the many, many announced, but never completed projects she announced.
What do you think of this report that Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan are to co-president Lucasfilm upon Kathleen Kennedy’s exit? Thoughts below.
FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS
Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube!
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
