One day after taking home the Board of Governors Award at the 39th ASC Awards, it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down. Puck first reported the news.

UPDATE: Kathleen Kennedy has addressed the reports in an interview with Deadline:

“I am not retiring. What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob and Alan about what eventual succession might look like. We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road. We are in lockstep as to what that’s going to be, and I am continuing.”

The interesting thing about Kathleen Kennedy’s decision to step down is that she just remarked on Sunday night how she was looking forward to working with the new female members of the American Society of Cinematographers. It begs the question of if this will be in a role with The Kennedy/Marshall Company? Kennedy worked with husband Frank Marshall at the company up until taking on a position with Lucasfilm in 2012.

Kathleen Kennedy’s decision to step down and retire by the end of 2025 was bound to happen sooner than later. Word has it that she was going to retire last year before staying on for another year. She’s enjoyed a series of success since taking over the reins as Lucasfilm Ltd. president after The Walt Disney Company acquired the company from George Lucas on October 30, 2012 in a deal valued at over $4 billion dollars. Along with LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, Disney acquired the rights to both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Disney immediately announced that a new Star Wars sequel was in the works and the rest is history.

In addition to a trilogy, two other films hit the big screen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story. The decision to release Solo less than half a year after Star Wars: The Last Jedi will forever boggle the mind. Its box office showing led to the Obi-Wan Kenobi film being redeveloped into a successful television series on Disney+. The Mandalorian revitalized Star Wars when it first launched on Disney+ in 2019. However, Andor would forever reshape the Star Wars universe with its initial launch in 2022. It showed how one could make a Star Wars series without being so dependent on the Skywalker family.

Some shows worked, some didn’t. Not everything can be a hit. For every Mandalorian and Andor, there’s an Acolyte that just doesn’t hit in the same way. Skeleton Crew was the most recent Star Wars series to launch on Disney+ and it was basically an Amblin Entertainment take on Star Wars.

Kathleen Kennedy’s departure has been rumored for years, mostly from sexist Star Wars fans upset at the direction of the sequel trilogy. This time, it’s actually going to happen. I have no doubt that Lucasfilm will be in good hands. My money is on Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni taking the reins at Lucasfilm and replacing Kathleen Kennedy as president. It’s possible that Jon Favreau could take the job. The fact that Filoni’s time at Lucasfilm dates back to working with Lucas on The Clone Wars. We’ll see how things develop.

Please subscribe to Solzy on Buttondown and visit Dugout Dirt.