Star Wars has been a hot-button topic the last year for many hardcore fans who are starting to doubt their faith to the sci-fi enterprise. Of course, we can talk about the failure of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" all night if we have to, but it really started with The Last Jedi" and its deviation from the original spirit of some of the characters which rubbed many people the wrong way. Others, were also complaining about the new characters whom, coincidently or not, were mostly female, (Laura Dern's Admiral Holdo and Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico) which led to severe backlash, a fan deciding to edit his own 46 minute version of the "The Last Jedi" without any women in it, and this week's news that Marie Tran had to erase her Instagram after months of bullying which included racist and sexist jokes.
Of course, enemy numero uno for these pissed off Star Wars fans seems to be Kathleen Kennedy. Pressure has been building up on the Lucasfilm head to steer the ship back to safe waters and regain the trust of many of these, now, rogue, "Star Fans" she might have lost. And so, it is not with great surprise that rumors have been swirling about Kennedy's tenure with Lucasfilm in jeopardy. According to the Ankler, a Hollywood insider newsletter, her run as Lucasfilm President might be over soon than we think.
The quote that we are most interested in from this newsletter is this:
"While Kathleen Kennedy worked wonders relaunching this property from the abyss of the Lucas prequel trilogy and turning it into a bigger than ever all-devouring cultural force, there has to be more than some thought that it’s time for new blood at the helm. The talk out there is of a September changing of the guards. We’ll see."
We have to mention that Ankler has been right in many instances, of the last few years, when it came to "Star Wars" rumors. So, the validity of these claims isn't far-fetched. Ankler does specify that Kennedy would be stepping down not because she thinks she's doing a bad job but because she believes that she’s getting “tired of the job itself” and is likely burnt out.
Of course we know of Kennedy's problems with filmmakers, most notably her firings of Phil Lord and Chris Miller on "Solo," the axing of Collin Trevorrow from "Episode IX" and letting Gareth Edwards go of his duties on "Rogue One," with Tony Gilroy coming in near production's end to takeover. [Although Edwards did get final director's credit].