Kathleen Kennedy may not be retiring from Lucasfilm this year after all. Hours after Puck dropped a bombshell report that Kennedy intends to retire from her position as Lucasfilm President by the end of this year, CNN spoke with an anonymous source who claims otherwise.
According to the latest update from CNN, a source familiar with the situation over at Lucasfilm stated "there's nothing there right now."
The source went on to emphasize that an announcement of Kennedy's retirement will be made "public" when "actual decisions are made."
Initial rumors claimed that Kennedy had told associates that she intends to retire by the end of 2025. Multiple Hollywood trades picked up the story, suggesting there was some legitimacy to claim.
The rumor continued to gain traction with additional reports claiming that Ahsoka and Star Wars Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni is already being eyed as her successor.
But Star Wars fans displeased with Kennedy's handling of the beloved franchise may want to temper their excitement when it comes to replacing her. With no official statement, it appears that any rumors of her stepping down will remain just that -- for now. It's possible that some sort of official announcement could be made in the coming weeks or months, but right now neither Lucasfilm nor Disney have issued a statement or response. And as the CNN source suggests, they won't be responding until something has been decided.
Still though, the initial report has at ignited the rumor mill and will surely fuel the flames for those who have been calling for Kennedy to step down from her position of power.
Kathleen Kennedy joined Lucasfilm as co-chare alongside Star Wars creator George Lucas in 2012. She was named President shortly after the company was acquired by Disney for $4 billion.
Kennedy's tenure as President of Lucasfilm can best be described as tumultuous. She found great success initially in the role, helping launch the Star Wars sequel trilogy. But the films saw diminishing returns at the box office thanks.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens breathed new life into the franchise and was a massive commercial success, grossing $936M domestically and over $2 billion worldwide. That would prove to be the height of the new trilogy as The Last Jedi earned $620 million domestically and $1.3 billion worldwide, while The Rise of Skywalker limped to the finish line with $515 million domestically and just over $1 billion globally.
In between the sequel trilogy were two spin-offs, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story. While Rogue One was met with both critical and commercial success, Solo was a complete flop, grossing just $393.2 million worldwide on an estimated $275 million production budget.
As the Star Wars movies saw diminishing returns on the big screen, Lucasfilm turned to streaming where it also found mixed results. Shows like Andor and The Mandalorian found great success with viewers, but were offset with disappointments like The Acolyte and The Book of Boba Fett.
Kennedy isn't completely to blame for all of Lucasfilm's missteps, but she has been the primary target to blame by a certain subsection of the fanbase that argues Star Wars has become too "woke."