
In December, a few hours after wrapping Star Wars: Starfighter, Kathleen Kennedy sat down with Deadline.com to discuss leaving Lucasfilm, her legacy, what’s next for her, and the future of Star Wars, revealing that David Glover and Taika Waititi have recently tuned in scripts, whilst James Mangold’s film is on hold.
DEADLINE: Let’s get to what the fans are eager to know. The progress on films and series by filmmakers who’ve committed to putting in that three to five years. Rian Johnson, James Mangold, Simon Kimberg, Taika Waititi. Where are all their projects at?
KENNEDY: I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here. Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold. Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script. And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.
I remember when I came into this job, the first thing Bob Iger said to me was, “Be bold.” I’ve always liked that because I think you have to be bold and you have to be willing to take risks with people and with ideas. Otherwise you are just doing the same thing. Right now we’re in an era where companies are so risk-averse, and I get it. I hear all the conversations. They’ve got Wall Street to please, and I get it, but I also believe that that’s what contributes to things disappearing, ultimately. I just think you have to take those chances.
Everything I just reeled off to you is taking a bit of a chance because none of those filmmakers are just walking in trying to do same old, same old. I’m excited by that, but the studio’s nervous about that, and that’s kind of where it sits at the moment.
DEADLINE: What about Rian Johnson returning? After Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi grossed $1.3 billion globally, we expected him to return.
KENNEDY: Once he made the Netflix deal and went off to start doing the Knives Out films, that has occupied a huge amount of his time. That’s the other thing that happens here. After Shawn and I started talking about Star Wars, Stranger Things kicks in and he was completely consumed for a while by that. That’s what happened with Rian. And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked. This is the rough part. When people come into this space, I have every filmmaker and actors say to me, “What’s going to happen?” They’re a little scared.
DEADLINE: You’ve developed a thicker skin no doubt. You can’t have been used to all the criticism when you were producing all these movies with Frank Marshall for Steven Spielberg. What do you say to ease the apprehension of these newcomers to the Star Wars universe? Every time you release another movie or series, it’s like, fire in the hole!
KENNEDY: I’m honest, especially with the women that come into this space because they unfairly get targeted. I don’t try to sugarcoat it. And I emphasize that it’s a very small group of people, with loud megaphones. I truly do not believe that it’s the majority of the fans. And I think we’re also in this weird world of where bots can affect things. You have to develop a tough skin. That is exactly right. That’s what you have to do. You can’t make it go away.
All we can do is put our heads down and do the work and believe that we’re doing the best we can, telling the best story we can. And if somebody gets really nervous about it and doesn’t want to do it, I say, then don’t do it because I can’t tell you this won’t happen.
DEADLINE: How goes the project that Simon Kinberg is writing and producing?
KENNEDY: He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there. We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.
DEADLINE: Are there any other Star Wars films or spinoffs the fan base will never forgive me for overlooking?
KENNEDY: We’ve talked about this new trilogy and then the things that you’ve mentioned. Mangold’s is really on the back burner as is Soderbergh’s. I think the ones by Taika and Donald are still somewhat alive. That’s going to really be up to the new team to figure out. Dave, I know that Dave and Lynwen are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next.
DEADLINE: Which of these will you produce?
KENNEDY: I am open to producing any of what it is they need. Certainly in the things that I’ve been involved in, and the filmmakers that I’ve been working with, I’d love to see those through if I could. But I’m not mandating any of that. I’m genuinely trying to support the new team that’s coming in and encouraging them to make the decisions. They need to. You’ve got to be on board to drive these things, and so I’m really encouraging them to do that.
DEADLINE: There is so much scrutiny on all things Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Some work better than others, but they all seem to gross big numbers. Is there any you wish you had back and maybe you could have done better with more time, or that you let go of something you’d love to have seen get made and released?
KENNEDY: No, I don’t really have any regrets. Well, maybe a bit of regret about Solo: A Star Wars Story. I brought Larry Kasdan in on, and we were so excited about that idea. And then when you’re into something and you realize fundamentally, conceptually, you cannot replace Han Solo, at least right now.
DEADLINE: Harrison Ford is a hard act to follow…
KENNEDY: As wonderful as Alden Ehrenreich was, and he really was good, and is a wonderful actor, we put him in an impossible situation. And once you’re in it and once you’re committed, you’ve got to carry on. I think I have a bit of regret about that, but not about the moviemaking and filmmaking. I don’t have regrets about that. I just think that conceptually, we did it too soon.
DEADLINE: At the same time, many felt that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was an example of where Harrison Ford stayed a little too long at the dance…
KENNEDY: No, no. I have no regrets about that because Harrison wanted to do that more than anything. He did not want Indy to end with the fourth movie. He wanted a chance at another, and we did that for him. I think that was the right thing to do. He wanted to do that movie. I don’t think Indy will ever be done, but I don’t think anybody is interested right now in exploring it. But these are timeless movies, and Indy will never be done.
DEADLINE: Sounds like you are not ruling out another film with the whip and the Stetson…
KENNEDY: You never know. But we are all still here, Steven and Frank and I, and Harrison and George. So we get to say whether there’s going to be any more, or not.
Read the interview in full here.
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