Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy may well be the most powerful woman in Hollywood, and she's hardly a newcomer to the world of blockbusters, serving as Steven Spielberg's producer since 1982's E.T. That partnership extended to Spielberg's collaborations on the Indiana Jones movies with George Lucas, who anointed Kennedy as his successor in 2012 as he negotiated a sale to Disney. As guardian of the Star Wars universe, Kennedy has needed every ounce of her experience, never hesitating to swap out creative teams, even mid-movie when necessary, as on 2018's commercial disappointment Solo. In October, two weeks before Game of Thrones' David Benioff and D.B. Weiss pulled out of a year-old deal to develop a new Star Wars trilogy, Kennedy called Rolling Stone to discuss December 20th's Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, and a post-Skywalker-saga cinematic future for the franchise that remains wide open, even as Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and Marvel's Kevin Feige develop potential films.
What strikes you about how [J.J.] and his co-screenwriter Chris Terrio did manage to crack the nut for [TROS]?
Chris is a very, very thoughtful, intelligent guy that J.J. chose and we all got to know. And again, it went through much of what we often go through, which is endless discussion, lots of artwork. Luckily, J.J. had already been into a pretty deep dive before he was doing Force Awakens and during the process of that movie — it's almost like an education of getting acquainted with all aspects of Star Wars. Not only just looking at the movies but talking to the number of people that are still around that worked with George for years, understanding the mythology that he created. One of the things we talk about all the time is the fact that it was very important to George that these stories really meant something, that they have something to say, and that they have a real emotional core. So we spend a lot of time talking about that and trying to find the spine of a story that feels satisfying.
Rian Johnson made some controversial choices in Episode VIII — The Last Jedi. Especially considering its dramatic purpose as the second movie in the trilogy, were you, to an extent, deliberately setting out to challenge fans and their expectations?
We definitely did. We're talking all the time about how we move Star Wars forward and how we keep it relevant. Obviously, we don't want to just keep making the same movie over and over again. So I agree with you. I mean, I love what Rian did. It's an absolutely wonderful movie. I think he's an extraordinary filmmaker. And I really appreciated the bold moves that he did make. I think people forget that, especially when you're doing a trilogy structure, the first movie is setting things up, the second is usually the conflict, and the third is the resolution. So you're bound to have that second movie, much the same way Empire Strikes Back was probably the darkest and most dramatic of the three. We talked about it with Indiana Jones! You know, we did Raiders of the Ark and then we did Temple of Doom, which was dark and created a lot of controversy, and people were surprised at where it went with the storytelling, but, frankly, that's the whole point!
I love that we have these amazingly passionate fans who care so much. And I know sometimes they may think we don't listen, but we do, and I thought it was fantastic that people got that engaged. It just showed me and everybody else how much they care. And that's important for all of us that are doing this. We really look at them as the custodians of this story as much as [we are]. We look at it as kind of a partnership.
Certainly whatever movie comes after this, if it's unconnected to the Skywalker saga, that's one of the biggest challenges in the history of the franchise. Until now, pretty much everything has been in some ways connected to the original story. What are your thoughts on that?
It's an incredible challenge, and it is something that we're in the middle of, and I can't even begin to tell you where this may end up, because I think you are absolutely right. I think whatever this next movie is, and how it begins to define a new way forward, it's something we want to take plenty of time and plenty of conversation and careful thought before deciding exactly what we're going to do.
So you truly haven't yet decided what's next?
No. We've got various things things we're looking at and various ways in which we can begin or not. As you can imagine. You know, do you go back? Do you go forward? All those questions are being asked. Do we stay in this galaxy? Do we go to another? The universe is never-ending. [Laughs.] The good news and the bad news. They have endless possibilities. It's liberating, it's exciting, and it creates a lot of pressure and anxiety as well.
How did Marvel's Kevin Feige come into the mix?
Kevin has been a huge fan of Star Wars, and he's made that pretty clear. And I think when he went off to do a couple of the Spider Man movies, he realized that he could kind of step in and out of what he's doing specifically with just Marvel. He talked to us, and he talked to the studio and said, you know, "Is there any chance I could step in and do one of the Star Wars movies?" And I thought it was a pretty cool idea. So we're just beginning to talk about what that might be and when that might be. But it's a way's off.
More (including her discussing Lucas's criticism of the new movies) at the link
