It’s been an intense week of reporting after Matt Belloni said on his Puck newsletter on Monday night that Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy would be retiring from his post by the end of the year. Now, Kennedy herself has given a rare interview to clarify the situation. She also went much further than that, providing some insights into future emovies and confirming some projects that they hadn’t yet talked about publicly.

Speaking to Deadline, Kennedy said that she’s not retiring… “from movies”. But she did add that she’s been talking to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Alan Bergman, chairman of Disney Entertainment, about her succession atop Lucasfilm — and that an announcement on this will be made “months or a year down the road”. She said:

The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. 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.

I’m producing [The Mandalorian and Grogu] right now, and I’m also producing Shawn Levy’s movie, which is after that. So I’m continuing to stay at Lucasfilm and looking very thoughtfully with Bob and Alan as to who’s stepping in. So that is all underway, and we have every right to make that announcement when we want to make it.

There are a few things to read from here. First, she’s not denying the reports — simply saying that she will keep making movies, though not necessarily at Lucasfilm. She’s also saying that there are some talks about her eventual exit from the company she’s been leading for over 12 years. When asked later by the reporter, point blank, “Will you step out as Lucasfilm boss this year?,” she issued a non-denial:

“We really don’t know at this stage. There’s so much going on, Mike. I don’t know.”

But perhaps more importantly, in her previous answer she hinted that her successor might come from within. Dave Filoni has been at the top of most people’s lists, but the possibility has been floated around more than once that he may not be the only person in charge. Going no further, Filoni was promoted to Chief Content Officer at the end of 2023, while his longtime partner in crime, Carrie Beck, was made head of development. Mike Fleming, the interviewer, also asked about the possibility of Filoni taking over, to which Kennedy said:

“I can’t say who it is, because there’s just an internal process that goes on inside a large corporation and a publicly held company, as to how we go about making deals, finalizing decisions, and making announcements. There’s nothing unusual about that, and we’re in that process.”

She also confirmed that she will be sticking around to produce the next few movies, even after she leaves:

“We’ll probably make an announcement months or a year out, and I have every intention of sticking around to help that person be successful. I’m already producing the Mandalorian movie, and Shawn Levy’s is after that.”

What’s also interesting from this answer is that she confirmed that Shawn Levy’s movie will be the next to enter production, which had been reported but not confirmed. Later on, the topic was brought back up, and the reporter even brought up Ryan Gosling’s name as the main star, which she didn’t deny (nor confirm). She said that the story will take place 5-6 years after The Rise of Skywalker, and that, though it will be a standalone story, they might bring some characters back from the sequels:

“That’s also in the future. It’s all post [the first] nine. Shawn’s is a standalone Star Wars story that’ll take place post 9, maybe five or six years out. And Mandalorian really stands on its own because there, we’re dealing with a whole other era in the New Republic. […]

And with this, it’s all pretty much new characters. We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters.”

What other movies are in the works? Kathleen Kennedy also said that they are currently starting to write the scripts for Simon Kinberg’s new trilogy. This had made its way into the press late last year, but Lucasfilm hadn’t confirmed it yet on the record. She said:

“We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously. That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June. Simon, if you remember, he did some work with us years ago with the animated show, which was a really wonderful collaborative experience. And he then got very, very busy with X-Men and then recently became available again, and he segued into this space beautifully. We’re really excited about where that’s headed.”

For context on the timeline, she clarified:

“This is the next iteration, the new saga that moves us into the future.”

Also coming down the pipeline is James Mangold’s movie, set 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace. Mangold has been very busy lately promoting his A Complete Unknown movie into multiple Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director. Said Kennedy:

“He’s working on this script right now. Simon’s working on scripts right now. Shawn, we had been working with him already for about a year and a half. These guys are available now. Jim, he got delayed a bit because of the Dylan movie and the awards season. You have to accommodate top talent to a certain extent. And quality is so important with what it is we’re trying to do. I like to wait for people that I think are passionate and really good to step into Star Wars.”

The issue of availability especially affects another filmmaker that they hired more than five years ago and who still hasn’t finished a script:

“I keep waiting for Taika and he is working with another writer now. He’s so busy. I love him, I think if we ever do get a script from Taika, it’s going to be fantastic. I already saw a first act that I loved, but tying him down it’s tricky.”

Kathleen Kennedy also mentioned how, once it’s all set and done, she’d love to go back to making movies with her husband, Frank Marshall, and her lifelong friend, Steven Spielberg. And when asked if she might be able to lock in Tony Gilroy to make a Star Wars movie, she responded:

“I don’t know if I can. I don’t think he ever believed he’d be decade inside Star Wars. He’s writing some things on his own, and I think he’d like to get back into the director’s chair. So we’ll see what he does. But he’s such a talent, just fantastic.”

Gilroy is set to say goodbye to a galaxy far, far away this April, once Andor Season 2 comes out. The trailer was released on Monday. The next Star Wars show to go into production is Ahsoka Season 2, which rolls cameras in April. Shawn Levy’s movie will be next on the feature side, with reports pointing toward an end-of-year start.