The deal will keep the legendary producer in place until 2021.
The force will be strong with Kathleen Kennedy for another three years at least. She has signed on to oversee Lucasfilm’s output until 2021.
Kennedy was brought in following Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012 and has overseen a huge rise in revenue for the company. The four Disney/Lucasfilm movies to date have generated a whopping $4.5 billion with merchandising bringing in billions more.
The move follows a relatively disappointing box office return for ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ this summer. The movie reportedly lost between $50 and $80 million.
The formidable Kennedy doesn’t suffer fools gladly. After ‘creative differences’ emerged with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller midway through the filming of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, she removed them and put Ron Howard at the helm. She also booted director Colin Trevorrow from Star Wars: Episode IX for, according to Vulture, being ‘difficult’. J.J. Abrams took over a week later.
Kennedy has had a long and varied career in Hollywood, working her way up from a writer’s assistant to having credits on classics like ‘E.T’, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘Back to The Future’.
Although Lucasfilm has a range of TV and animation projects in the pipeline the only Star Wars movie currently in production is ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ which has a projected release date in December 2019.
Via: THR
