Star Wars Solo FLOP and Last Jedi backlash: Disney to FIRE Kathleen Kennedy for JJ Abrams?

“The current state of Star Wars is that Kathleen Kennedy has a target on her but everyone is too scared to take the shot.”

A major new report from Beyond the Trailer has leaked some of the inner dramas consuming Lucasfilm and Disney following the disastrous last few months.

According to the site’s presenter Grace Randolph, Disney boss Iger called an emergency meeting with all the heads of Disney, Pixar and Marvel together with the Lucasfilm Star Wars “top brass” to discuss the current situation.

Randolph added: “The word is that he wants Kathleen Kennedy out.”

Money talks in Hollywood and the enormous failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which hasn’t even cracked $400million at the global box office, is fuelling mounting reports and expectations that a drastic change is coming. 

Randolph said: “Nobody will take her (Kennedy’s) job. Several have been approached, but turned it down, including JJ Abrams, who turned it down flat and didn’t even hesitate.”

At the same time, Kenendy’s husband, producer Frank Marshall liked a tweet which claimed Bob Iger was making Kennedy take the blame for his own Star Wars mistakes.

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It said: “Your wife is getting an unfair shake by Star Wars fans. True fans know that Bob Iger is protecting his own very bad decisions by allowing her to take the heat for it. Let her know, for morale.”

The fact that a major Hollywood figure acknowledged and liked a public statement accusing the Disney boss of settting up the head of Lucasfilm to take a fall shows just how serious and inflammatory the whole situation is becoming.

Huge numbers of Star Wars fans feel Kathleen Kennedy has tried to force a social agenda on the franchise, paired with little understanding or personal love for what the Star Wars universe has meant to millions over five decades. 

It’s not just the worry over ticket sales.

Randolph explained: “Remember Star Wars is the franchise that made merchandise happen. Disney feels Star Wars is now being targeted to older SJWs (social justice warrriors) who don’t buy – or at least as much – merchandise as the older original fans and kids. Plus foreign audiences are also being alienated.”

Randolph added why nobody will take Kenendy’s job: “In risk-averse Hollywood, nobody wants to run a house divided, which apparently is what Kathleen Kennedy has created. It’s divided between her loyalists, which she brought in and wear those ‘Force is Female’ t-shirts, and the loyalists to the brand itself that were there before Kathleen…

“Why not get rid of Kathleen’s loyalists along with Kathleen? She gambled and she lost… and if you’re gone make a lot of enemies you need to make sure you keep winning.”

Many fans and Star Wars sites are suggesting Dave Filoni for the role. He worked directly with George Lucas before Lucasfilm was sold to Disney and they maintain close contact. Filoni is the current head of the hugely successful and fan-favourite Star Wars animation.

Randolph said: “I’m sure Dave Filoni would love this job but it is unfortunate that Disney doesn’t feel he has the capabilities to do it, maybe thinking he is more creative and doesn’t have the business ability… Just get him a business partner to work with.”

The entire situation is extraordinary and almost unique in Hollywood history, with a powerful and energised fan base demanding the removal of a studio head.

Even if Kenendy makes it to A Star Wars Celebration next April in Chicago, she might face a a troubling reception.