Disney Advised Kathleen Kennedy to Stop Announcing Star Wars Projects; More Lucasfilm Executive Personnel Changes Possible

A new, detailed story on Puck News by former Hollywood Reporter editor Matt Belloni has shared a lot of insight into the struggles of Lucasfilm and President Kathleen Kennedy to get the next era of Star Wars films developed. This December, it will have been three years since the last time a Star Wars movie hit the big screen, and save for Indiana Jones 5 next year, it looks like we are looking at another three-year window before a theatrical Lucasfilm production happens again.



Ever since The Rise of Skywalker premiered in theaters back in 2019, Kathleen Kennedy has announced two live-action Star Wars movies -- on May 4, 2020, the company released an official statement saying that Taika Waititi would be co-writing and directing a new film set in a galaxy far, far away. It's been two and a half years and the movie is still not written. Later that year, on December 10, it was also announced that Patty Jenkins would be directing Rogue Squadron. Now, that project is on the back burner. As a result, Puck News is saying Disney CEO Bob Chapek has advised Kathleen Kennedy to stop announcing projects until they are set in stone, to avoid further negative press surrounding the franchise and the company.



This may have been the reason why no film announcements were made at either Star Wars Celebration in May or D23 in September. In an interview published in May but conducted in March, Kathleen Kennedy said Lucasfilm would be ready to make a film announcement in two-months' time, which would indicate original plans to make a splash at Celebration. For now, it seems like the project closest to production is the Damon Lindelof-written movie, which just received a major boost with reports that Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is in talks to direct, if not signed already -- Lindelof, along with several other writers, is working hard on the script at the moment.



Damon Lindelof is working on a script for a Star Wars movie.



Since the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has lived solely on the small screen and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. According to the report, Kennedy is trying to learn from past mistakes, which include rushing the sequel trilogy (especially the third movie, which saw a change of creative minds at a very inconvenient time) and leaning too much on fan service over creative swings. The executive is keen on making the next film as good as it can be, while also as different as possible from the current Disney Plus slate, yet still rooted in what has drawn people to a galaxy far, far away for the better part of five decades. It might take a while, but it's getting there -- including a 'secret writers room' full of creative and talented people, spearheaded by Watchmen and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof, and also possibly consulted with George Lucas' understudy and fan-favorite creative, Dave Filoni.



Another significant piece of news that dropped over the past week was the departure of Michelle Rejwan as Senior VP of Live Action Development & Production at Lucasfilm to go back to producing full-time. Puck is saying Rejwan is currently working hard on the Leslye Headland series The Acolyte, which might be one of the few projects she organically developed from inception since she took over that position. According to the report, more executive changes might follow, though no specifics were given nor any indication regarding what level in the hierarchy.



From left to right, Chris Terrio, Michelle Rejwan, Kathleen Kennedy, and J. J. Abrams at Star Wars Celebration 2019.



Time will tell. As mentioned earlier, the company is currently fully committed to putting out top-tier content on Disney Plus (the new series Andor has been received positively by critics and fans, a welcome change of pace after the mixed receptions to The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi). The third season of The Mandalorian is deep into post-production, aiming at a February 2023 release. The Mandalorian spin-off Ahsoka is also about to wrap filming at Manhattan Beach Studios in Southern California, and will be released at some point in 2023. Also coming next year is Skeleton Crew, from Jon Watts, Dave Filoni, and Jon Favreau. That series, headlined by Jude Law, is also filming in Los Angeles as we speak.



There has been a lot of news from the Star Wars film side over the past few days, and they all seem to indicate significant shakeups inside Lucasfilm, while also finally painting a clearer picture of the future of Star Wars films beyond the concluded Skywalker Saga.



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