Kathleen Kennedy is ending her 14-year stint at Lucasfilm. When she leaves the Walt Disney Company this year, she will be replaced by not one, but two executives. Chief creative officer Dave Filoni and president and general manager Lynwen Brennan, both of whom led the company in producing “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” are looking to regain momentum. Filoni’s promotion was widely expected, but Brennan’s was a surprise. This suggests that Disney felt the need to combine a strong film production team with people who had a firm grasp of budgets and balance sheets.
Mr. Filoni has been named president and chief creative officer of Lucasfilm, and Mr. Brennan has been named co-president. Their job is to find ways to keep Star Wars fresh and relevant, and to deal with a fan base that can be very vocal when they feel a movie or series deviates too far from canon. Mr. Filoni and Mr. Brennan will report directly to Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment.
Kennedy will continue his relationship with the company and will serve as a producer on the studio’s next two feature films, The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter, scheduled for theatrical release in 2026 and 2027. She plans to pursue other production projects independently.
Disney CEO Bob Iger also praised Kennedy’s leadership in a statement saying he would step down this year. “When we acquired Lucasfilm more than a decade ago, we knew we were bringing to the Disney family not only one of the most beloved and enduring storytelling universes ever created, but also a team of extraordinary talent led by a visionary filmmaker, someone hand-picked by George Lucas himself,” Iger said. “We are deeply grateful to Kathleen Kennedy for her leadership, vision and stewardship of such an iconic studio and brand.”
Although Kennedy is a widely respected producer who has worked closely with Steven Spielberg for many years, her tenure at Lucasfilm has had its ups and downs. She helped select J.J. Abrams to direct 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed more than $2 billion and successfully brought the franchise back to the big screen. The two sequels were also box office hits, as was the spin-off adventure Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
However, 2018’s Han Solo, which attempted to depict the early years of Han Solo, was a commercial failure and suffered from a chaotic production in which original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired and replaced by Ron Howard. Keeping filmmakers employed has been a constant struggle for Kennedy, who has seen Patty Jenkins, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Taika Waititi announce their own Star Wars films that either never materialize or are canceled due to creative differences. That leaves Disney with a seven-year gap in Star Wars movies, which will be filled this summer with the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu. The sequel to the long-running action series, “Indiana Jones and the Dial,” released in 2023, also failed at the box office.
Kennedy helped bring “Star Wars” into the streaming world, creating hit shows like “The Mandalorian” and acclaimed series like “Andor.” But some of them stalled. For example, The Acolyte was canceled after one season.
Filoni is a longtime Lucasfilm veteran. He was selected by George Lucas to start Lucasfilm Animation Studios in 2005 and created its first series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Mr. Filoni is an executive producer, episode director and writer on several of the company’s live-action series, including “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka,” and is also a producer and writer on “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
Brennan joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1999 and became president in 2009. He then became president and general manager of Lucasfilm in 2024. She has led the company’s business strategy, franchise and production operations, and oversaw ILM’s expansion.
Pac was first to report Filoni and Brennan’s promotions.
