In the wake of the failure of The Last Jedi and Solo, which apparently also sees Rian Johnson’s trilogy canceled, Disney announces a replacement for LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
Kennedy, whose term at LucasFilm expires in 2021, actually named her replacement as Michelle Rejwan, who will now oversee the live-action development and production of new Star Wars movies and TV shows as senior vice president.
Michelle Rejwan is known for co-producing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams and Bad Robots’ Star Trek Into Darkness, was an associate producer on Abrams’ Super 8, and is a producer on the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
What’s interesting is that Rejwan wasn’t involved with either The Last Jedi or Han Solo, two disasters that fell under Kennedy in addition to all the director and production problems.
Star Wars has new decision-maker at Disney
To be clear, Michelle Rejwan isn’t taking the Lucasfilm “president” job from Kennedy – at least not yet – but Rejwan is replacing Kennedy as the decision-maker, as Deadline reports Producer Michelle Rejwan is the new Star Wars SVP of Live Action Development & Production: “Rejwan will oversee a new slate of feature films and episodic series for Lucasfilm and Disney+ and continue to produce with Kennedy as Star Wars franchise is built out.”
Kathleen Kennedy also released the following statement:
“Working with Michelle over the last seven years as a producer on both The Force Awakens and now The Rise of Skywalker, I have seen first-hand her skills collaborating with writers and directors, and I’ve been incredibly impressed with her creative skills and her ability to manage the complexity surrounding these massive projects. I know the importance of building a team that you trust and have fun working with – it is paramount to our success. There’s an exciting momentum building around the future of the franchise, and both myself and the Lucasfilm team look forward to working with Michelle in shaping the future in all areas of story development, from theatrical film development to live-action content for Disney+.”
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens on Dec. 20, 2019; the next Star Wars movies don’t start to get released until 2022, which will be developed under Rejwan’s wing:
- Untitled Star Wars movie: Dec. 16, 2022
- Untitled Star Wars movie: Dec. 20, 2024
- Untitled Star Wars movie: Dec. 18, 2026
