Kathleen Kennedy, steward of 'Star Wars,' steps down from Lucasfilm

After more than 13 years at the helm of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down from the “Star Wars” factory founded by George Lucas.

The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it will now turn to Dave Filoni to steer “Star Wars,” as president and chief creative officer, into its sixth decade and beyond. Filoni, who served as the chief commercial officer of Lucasfilm, will inherit the mantle of one of the movies marquee franchises, alongside Lynwen Brennan, president and general manager of Lucasfilm’s businesses, who will serve as co-president.

“When George Lucas asked me to take over Lucasfilm upon his retirement, I couldn’t have imagined what lay ahead,” said Kennedy. “It has been a true privilege to spend more than a decade working alongside the extraordinary talent at Lucasfilm."

Kennedy, Lucas’ handpicked successor, had presided over the ever-expanding science-fiction world of “Star Wars” since Disney acquired it in 2012. In announcing Thursday's news, Bob Iger, chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co. called her “a visionary filmmaker.”

Kennedy oversaw a highly lucrative but often contentious period in “Star Wars” history that yielded a blockbuster trilogy and acclaimed streaming spinoffs such as “The Mandalorian” and “Andor,” yet found increasing frustration from longtime fans.

Under Kennedy’s stewardship, Lucasfilm amassed more than $5.6 billion in box office and helped establish Disney+ as a streaming destination — achievements that easily validated the $4.05 billion Disney plunked down for the company. But Kennedy also struggled to deliver the big-screen magic that Lucas captured in the original trilogy from the late 1970s and early 1980s, and her relationship with “Star Wars” loyalists became a saga of its own.

Filoni has established himself almost entirely on the small screen, entering the franchise with the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and creating the tepidly received Disney+ series “Ahsoka.” Filoni, who first collaborated with Lucas on “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” has also been an executive producer on “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Skeleton Crew.”

Both will report to Alan Bergman, Disney Entertainment co-chairman.

“From Rey to Grogu, Kathy has overseen the greatest expansion in Star Wars storytelling on-screen that we have ever seen,” said Filoni. “I am incredibly grateful to Kathy, George, Bob Iger, and Alan Bergman for their trust and the opportunity to lead Lucasfilm in this new role, doing a job I truly love. May the Force be with you.”

Before joining Lucasfilm, Kennedy was one of Hollywood’s most successful producers ever. In 1981, she co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg and her eventual husband, Frank Marshall. She produced “E.T.,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Jurassic Park” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy.

At Lucasfilm, her biggest hit came at the start, with 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The J.J. Abrams-directed film grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. But the subsequent installment, Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” (2017), was bitterly divisive. The third film, Abrams’ “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), was widely panned by critics and fans, alike.

After “The Rise of Skywalker,” “Star Wars” went dark on the big screen despite a litany of announced projects. The dry spell is set to be broken in May by Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” The intervening years have been marked by streaming successes in “The Mandalorian” and “Andor,” but the future of “Star Wars” has felt increasingly uncertain.

Struggles over tone and vision have been frequent. The 2018 Han Solo spinoff “Solo: A Star Wars Story” saw its directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, fired during production and replaced by Ron Howard. Most found the mixed-and-matched result blandly disappointing.

More recently, Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the most recent “Star Wars” trilogy,” divulged to The Associated Press last year that he and Steven Soderbergh had developed a Ben Solo film with Kennedy and Lucasfilm’s support for two years before Disney chief Bob Iger nixed it. Fans were so irate that a plane was flown over Disney’s Burbank studios with a banner reading “Save ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo.’”

Instead, the only “Star Wars” movie of Kennedy’s stewardship to win widespread and prevailing approval from fans was arguably 2016’s “Rogue One.” Gareth Edwards’ spinoff was also a troubled production, leading to Tony Gilroy, eventual creator of “Andor,” overseeing reshoots. Yet despite that, “Rogue One” — taking place within “Star Wars” but outside of the main Jedi storyline — might be the only film of Kennedy’s “Star Wars” reign that managed to both stay true to the space odyssey’s tone and to break new ground.

Kennedy's fingerprints will be on many of coming “Star Wars” projects for years to come. That includes Shawn Levy's “Star Wars: Starfighter,” with Ryan Gosling, due out in May 2027, and a fleet of other projects in various stages of development.

FILE - Producer Kathleen Kennedy poses upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' June 26, 2023, in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

Actor Keri Russell, left, and producer Kathleen Kennedy pose together at the AFI Awards at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

FILE - Film producer Kathleen Kennedy, left, and director Dave Filoni are welcomed by R2-D2 and C-3PO, right, as they appear on stage during a fan convention called the Star Wars Celebration in Chiba, near Tokyo, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

FILE - Kathleen Kennedy, winner of the BAFTA Fellowship, poses with her award backstage at the BAFTA Film Awards in central London, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate for a new ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan as border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan entered their sixth day on Wednesday.

The conflict erupted last week with Afghanistan launching attacks on Thursday in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous weekend. Since then, Pakistan has carried out operations along the border and declared it was in an “open war” with Afghanistan, alarming the international community.

The ongoing clashes ended an earlier ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October, when the two neighbors had again come close to a war. The truce, signed in Qatar at the time, was followed by six days of talks in Istanbul, which resulted in an agreement to extend the truce and hold a third round of negotiations in November.

Those talks, held on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7 failed to produce any breakthrough and the process stalled.

According to a statement from the Turkish presidential office, Erdogan, in a telephone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “condemned the terrorist attacks in Pakistan” and said Turkey would seek to "contribute to the reestablishment of the ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Sharif’s office did not directly confirm Erdogan’s offer but said the two leaders discussed tensions along the 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) -long Afghan-Pakistan border. It said the two “exchanged views on recent developments" and would remain in closer "contact in our shared pursuit of peace and stability in the region.”

There was also no immediate comment on Erdogan's offer from the Taliban government in Afghanistan but Kabul may see the Turkish president's comments as one-sided or even openly supporting Islamabad.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had reached out to Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last week to discuss the cross-border situation, according to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry released no further details.

Since the latest fighting broke out, both sides have since claimed inflicting heavy losses on each other in fighting that has mainly focused in Pakistan's border regions in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southwestern Balochistan province.

Casualty reports have vastly conflicted. The border area — where militant groups, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, are also active — is not accessible to the media and the Associated Press could not independently confirm any of the casualty reports.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its forces had killed or wounded dozens more enemy soldiers as the cross-border fighting continued. On Tuesday, the ministry said Afghan forces had killed 150 Pakistani soldiers over the previous five days, while 28 Afghan troops were killed in the same period.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Wednesday that 481 Afghan troops had been killed in the past six days. The conflicting reports could not be reconciled.

Pakistan has warned that its military operations will continue until Afghanistan takes verifiable steps to rein in Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and other militants operating from its territory.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of harboring the TTP, a militant group responsible for a surge in attacks inside Pakistan since 2021 when the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Kabul denies the charge, insisting it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writer Abdul Qahar Afghan in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

Enayatullah Khowarazmi , left, spokesman of the Defence Ministry, and Hamdullah Fitrat ,deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan speak during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)

Trucks are parked along roadside following cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces, at near Torkham border crossing point, Pakistan, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maaz Awan)

A man inspects a building damaged after a Pakistani strike in on a refugee camp in Takhta Pul district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sibghatullah)

Enayatullah Khowarazmi , left, spokesman of the Defence Ministry, and Hamdullah Fitrat ,deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan speak during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)