Is Kathleen Kennedy OUT at Lucasfilm? - Error Code Show

0:00 Multiple reports earlier this week were saying that Kathleen Kennedy, the embattled president of Lucasfilm, since George sold it off to the House of Mouse, is retiring sometime this year. To be clear, there are now conflicting reports, and actually a new breaking report, about this topic. Look, we've talked about Star Wars, my first and favorite fandom, and this topic in particular multiple times on the show. So let's do a level reset. Kathleen Kennedy has one of the best resumes of any producer in Hollywood, full stop. She's an eight time Oscar nominee. She's produced things like Jurassic Park, Hook, Schindler's List, Back to the Future, Goonies and E .T. So when George announced her, because George picked her, not the house of mouse, George Lucas picked her as her as his successor and taking over Lucasfilm. It was a louded announcement.

0:56 People were like, yep, that's the right choice. Time has shown us that this was not a good role for her. So even if the reports were true, we're going to talk about why I'm not popping bottles yet. Right. And also whether the reports are true. All right. Let's start with the bullshit and the breaking news. Deadline has the immediate reaction from Kathleen Kennedy. They got the interview after the news broke. Here's where she's going to say something and not say something at the same time. I am not retiring. What is happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with Bob and Alan about what the succession might look like. We have an amazing bench of people and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road. We are locked up as to what that's going to be. Please note what she said. She said two things there. I'm not retiring. We're making an announcement. What does this mean in PR speak?

1:57 I think that the initial reporting is correct, insofar as I think they're going to announce that she is stepping down as the head of Lucasfilm at the end of this year, at the end of 2025 when her contract's up. And I think they know who they're putting in place. She's not going to retire, though. They're not going to fire her. She's just going to go back to doing what she's actually good at, which is producing movies, not running a corporation. Right? She's gonna produce movies. She's married to Frank Marshall. He produces movies. He's a billion years old, too. That guy will die and she will die producing movies. Okay, that's what they're gonna do. So, do I think that she's gonna keep producing movies for Star Wars? Yep. Do I think she's gonna produce movies for other people? Yep. So, is she retiring?

2:52 No, she's not gonna go sit on a beach somewhere and that's what she means. Do I think that Disney has already identified who's going to take over for her at the end of this year? Yes. Why am I not excited about this? Because I don't know who it is yet. We thought Cathy Kennedy was a good pick when they announced her. Okay. Chad, I'll leave it to you. And I've heard a bunch of you guys' arguments before about who should take over. And there's been loads of speculation this week, right? I'm not popping bottles until we know who's taking that job and until we get about two years into it So we see what they because you gotta remember you're putting something to head of Lucasfilm It's gonna take them two years to get anything done Okay, making movies is not a fast fucking process people So there's that Jay, what are your thoughts I think we know who it is. Who do you think it is? The only one that can save us who that could reunite us during this time of need that can bring us together.

4:01 Donald Trump. No. Oh, my God. Definitely not kidding. I'm kidding. Go, Elon. It's going to be Elon. He's just going to walk in with a chainsaw day one. Jesus. Go. The guy, the guy that is, you know, the chosen one, the promised one that's going to come in and you reunite the country, take us back to our childhood, back to our roots, back to family. Give me a name. Vin Diesel. No, no, that would be, that would be horrible. I would, I would cry. Um, no, I'm just kidding.

4:42 We actually, I mean, I have no idea. I, I met Very curious who they are going to select. And this is very tricky because, like you said, like we thought this was a good pick to begin with. And then. You know, we found out like, OK, she's a really good producer, but can't run a company. I don't know. It's. I don't know. I really don't. OK. Who is the troll? The troll. John Favreau, please no. Please no. Okay, here's what I'm going to say. One, the head of Lucasfilm does not just make Star Wars movies. Let's start there. Lucasfilm is the head of ILM and Skywalker Sound, which does a not insignificant amount of the special effects for the entire movie industry. Even stuff not made by Disney, okay, because they are the best at what they do. So, I... I'll be honest, I don't want another movie producer in there.

5:47 I don't unless they are doing what DC did. Now, there's been some speculation that maybe they're looking at what DC did where they went, we're going to take James Gunn and Peter Safran and make them co -presidents, right? James, you're in charge of creative. Peter, you run the fucking business and you guys work together to make the best DC we can make. But if you're going to put somebody like Favreau or Filoni in there, you have to put somebody in there that actually knows something about running a business. Okay? And I'm talking a multi -billion dollar franchise and sub -businesses and all this shit. Because Star Wars is licensing. It's merchandise. It's brand. It's so many things that is more than just I made a Star Wars movie. OK. I think you leave Filoni. Filoni is the chief creative officer over at Lucasfilm right now, and I think you leave him right the fuck there. Also, I don't think Jon Favreau wants to. Be the head of a company. I think John likes making Mandalorian.

6:56 I think he likes popping up in Spider -Man movies. And Iron Man movies, right? Yeah. There are a couple of VPs who did somebody sent me the article hang on let me swing and find it There's a couple of VPs over at Lucasfilm that might be able to do it There's some people outside of Disney's ecosystem that could do it how many people in the world fit that bill let literally you're asking that question. It's probably less than 20 There are probably 20 people In the world.

7:37 In the entertainment business, who could you could pluck off the street and go run Lucasfilm, one of the most valuable and storied franchise companies in the world. Right. Like, that's not an easy task. Especially with the state that the Star Wars fandom is in right now. I think it's great. I think we should bring back charge our banks, maybe. Maybe Jar Jar Binks can like run Lucas Films. Somebody asked about hiring poachers, somebody from Watson. They're not a big enough company. They're just not. And then it's not they're not an entertainment company.

8:20 You have to understand Hollywood. Right. Which is why one of the reasons the whole Wizards D &D Hasbro D &D like movie shit didn't work and why Hasbro ended up selling E1. because. You know, they screwed it up. Hasbro bought a production company in Hollywood, screwed it up and ended up selling it for way less than they bought it for because they didn't know how to make movies. Get realistic about potential options. Five years ago, Feige would have been an option. Again, there's a couple of people and I just I don't have the article in front of me. Maybe I can find it real quick. There's a couple of people at Lucasfilm who might be able to do it. Hollywood Reporter had a bunch of people that they identified.

9:19 Favreau, Filoni, Feige, Emma Watts. She could probably do it. She's a 20th Century Fox Hannah McGillum, maybe Emma Watson's not a bad pick most again as people you don't they're not household names So Do I want Kathy Kennedy out? Yes, I do. I don't I don't want her there anymore I think she just screwed it up really really bad and I respect her as producer But she's a fucking terrible company head. And I don't know why Disney's left her there for as long as they have, because she has she has done some serious damage to Star Wars. Yeah, and I'll I'll say, like, it's not God, it's not an easy job. I don't I don't even I wouldn't I wouldn't want to do it, to be completely honest. It's it's one of those things where Um, I used to really love working on cars. Like I would skip school in high school to go to the junk yard. Uh, and so everyone was like, Oh, like you're going to become a mechanic. And I was like, no, like that's my hobby. I don't want it to become my job. I, I would not want to be.

10:49 I wouldn't, I would hate for someone to be like. J is the reason why Star Wars sucks, which you're never going to make every Star Wars fan happy. Nope. So no, I would. Well, and somebody in the in the Twitch chat to bring up something. And again, I've actually heard this from multiple creatives. There are directors who have out and out said out loud, I will not work on a Star Wars movie right now. I won't touch that with a 10 foot pole because the fandom is just too much right now. Like. There's just no way to do it. And again, being a studio head is also not being a creative. That is not your job. Right. That that's not what you do. OK. You're showing our show notes, man. Oh, wow. That's fine. Oh, my God. I had something else. Build. Yeah. Yeah.

11:40 Your job is to make money for the company. That's that's absolutely right, chat. That is their job. And that's what they're supposed to do. Like, I hate to fucking say it, but that's the deal, baby. Yeah. So get somebody like Emma Watts or a studio head that they've already got. That's like a smaller studio head. Put them in charge of Lucasfilm. Somebody who can go you, you, you, you, you, you five people make new good Star Wars content and leave them the fuck alone. OK. Like that's what you do. So anyway, so there you go Kathleen's not retiring, but she's probably leaving Lucasfilm Good I'll be happy once I know who the hell's coming in and you know what I'll be happy when we actually get another Star Wars movie Because I am pissed that I've had no Star Wars on the big screen in six fucking years Okay, that's to me is the biggest crime here. Okay, nothing Anyway, let us know what you think down in the comments below